Halo: Gold Chronicles
by Spartan-029
Summary: Jesse, Spartan-029, is the first of the trainees to undergo the Spartan II augmentation and his team is the charged with the task of field testing the Spartan's prototype equipment. This is the story of the Spartan II semi-special ops, Spartan Gold Team.
1. Chapter 1

**0730 Hours, June 23, 2520 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, Planet Reach**

Three young kids dashed through the woods of the early morning. Each was no older than nine years. They were dressed in their usual training outfits which consisted of grey t-shirts, military pants and combat boots. Kimberly, Dan and Jesse had all been living on Planet Reach for the past two years. They were among a much larger group of children who were training to become part of a project known to them as SPARTAN II.

Their instructor, and overall father figure, CPO Mendez had played a critical role in their training to become the most top notch soldiers ever. He had made their lives miserable the first couple months but soon after he began teaching the young SPARTANS how to use their training in the field.

Today was a game of 'Capture the Flag'. This was by far the SPARTANS' favorite training exercise. This was one of the few times that the trainees could get back at their drill instructors for any unnecessary punishments that had been issued earlier on at the start of their training. Today was Team Eleven's turn to go into the field while the other SPARTANS-in-training worked with CPO Mendez.

The three kids slowed their run to a walk. Jesse pulled out the map from their survival pack and examined it while his teammates gathered around him. Dan was Jesse's age and almost the same height as him. He had semi-short dark hair and dark brown eyes. He and Jesse had made friends with each other early on in their training and were pretty comfortable with relying on each other for support when needed.

"What are you thinking?" Dan asked as he and Kimberly watched his expression. When Jesse was trying to think tactics he would go into a slight trance and stop blinking all together.

"Just thinking." Jesse murmured.

"God damn it Jesse! Tell us what's on your mind!" Kimberly hissed furiously. She hated it when Jesse got too wrapped up in what he was doing because, to her, it seemed that his sense of awareness went completely out the window. On a few occasions this behavior had cost them some skirmish matches against some of the other SPARTAN teams.

"The outpost is about three miles north of our position." He looked up from the map and peered out at the low mountains that surrounded the valley. "We could get to higher ground and scout out the situation."

"That's going to take forever." Dan sighed. He was one of the few who understood Jesse's distaste for splitting up a team. It was more to their advantage to split up but at the same time, too many things could go wrong. "I'll go up and scout things out." He reached into the backpack and pulled out two ear radios as well as a pair of binoculars. "I'll be your eyes in the sky. If I see anything funny closing in on you then I'll let you know."

Jesse was silent for a moment. "Alright then. You've got fifteen minutes to get up to a good look-out point. We don't want to keep our DI's waiting now." Then a sly smirk moved across his face. "You know how much they hate to be kept waiting."

"Don't I know." Dan chuckled, before slipping into the shadows.

Jesse and Kimberly headed towards their DI's outpost at a slow and stealthy walk.

"Any idea what our DI's are planning this time?" Kimberly whispered.

"Besides beating us to a pulp? Not a clue." Jesse muttered. Kimberly didn't reply, only sighed. They continued creeping through the forest as quietly as possible. Even though they were a considerable distance from the outpost, their DI's were known to post lookouts on the outskirts of their base.

"Jess, heads up!" Dan's voice crackled over the radio. "I've spotted a dropship coming in from the west."

"Roger that." Jesse confirmed. "We'll keep an eye on it. Maintain radio silence unless there is an absolute emergency." Jesse switched off the communicator and waved a few hand signals to Kimberly. She nodded and climbed up into a tree, making sure that she kept the trunk between her and the outpost. A couple minutes ticked away very slowly. At last Kimberly jumped down from the tree and landed silently on the forest floor.

"They've landed a mile west from us. Any ideas?"

"Hmm..." Jesse furrowed his brow. He had expected the DI's to use light reconnaissance Warthogs but not an entire dropship. "I think it would be safe to investigate the dropship before moving on. If they're expecting us to come from a certain direction, then the troops in that Pelican might try and flank us."

"Good idea." Kimberly nodded and the two of them took off at a steady run. The Pelican had set down where there was a small opening in the trees. Kimberly and Jesse held off several yards in the trees to check out the situation. Standing at the rear compartment of the Pelican stood six men, armed with stun batons, and stun-guns attached to their belts. They were dressed in UNSC uniforms which put Jesse's mind at ease. The year before, the SPARTANS had been involved in a mishap when several dropship pilots refused to identify themselves and ended up getting ambushed by all seventy-five SPARTANS.

Jesse felt a slight breeze on his neck. He looked over at Kimberly who had blown on him to get his attention from the adjacent tree branch. She gestured to the dropship then made a fist. She was suggesting that they try and steal it. Jesse glanced back at the men standing around the dropship. Disabling the ship wouldn't be hard. But capturing it would be an almost unnecessary move. He was about to wave off Kimberly's suggestion when he caught himself. They might be able to capture the dropship and lure their DI's away from the base and sneak in and capture their flag when they were preoccupied.

Jesse held up two fingers and bounced them up and down. Kimberly was to act as bait and she bobbed her head in agreement. Kimberly jumped down from the branches and took off at a slight jog. She drew closer to the edge of the clearing until one of the soldiers spotted her. Instinctively she ducked back into the shadows and out of sight. Two of the men gripped their stun-butons and followed quickly.

Jesse leaped down from his branch and followed after them as soon as they were out of the view of their remaining teammates. As Jesse quickly closed the gap between them he heard a light thunk and some cursing from the men. Up ahead he spotted Kimberly with her back against a tree. One of the men was on one knee and clutching at his bleeding forehead. His buddy turned up the power on his stun-baton so that Jesse was able to hear the hum of the electricity. The man took a step towards Kimberly and Jesse leaped into the air. He executed a flying side-kick to the back of the man's head. The soldier stumbled forward and hit his head on the trunk of the tree Kimberly was standing in front of. He gave a muffled cry and fell to the ground unconscious. The soldier who was still clutching at his head looked up in time to see Kimberly's leg whip around and catch him in the side of the head before his world went black.

"Two down." Jesse smirked.

"Four to go." Kimberly smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up. Jesse felt his cheeks flush a little when he saw her smile but quickly shut those thoughts out of his mind. The two of them gathered up the stun-batons and stun-guns from the unconscious soldiers before backtracking to the landing zone. They crouched down in the bushes and watched while the other four men attempted to hail their missing comrades. After several unsuccessful tries they gave up. One pulled what looked like an AI data crystal out of his pocket and squeezed it between his fingers.

Just then Dan's voice came over the radio.

"Jess! Kim! It's a...!"

Before the young SPARTANS could figure out what was going on, a shrill screaming ripped through the air. All at once Jesse felt a sharp stabbing pain in his ear and he cried out in anguish. He had been hurt before but this was far beyond anything he had ever felt.

Kimberly covered her ears at the horrible screeching noise and looked at Jesse with confusion in her eyes. Jesse ripped his communicator off his ear and threw it away. The ringing was still lingering and blood was oozing out of his ear.

There was a soft thud next to Jesse. He shoved Kimberly back into the underbrush as the flash-bang grenade went off. Suddenly Jesse's world became muted and white. He could feel himself stumbling around trying to find something to grab onto or expecting an attack from the soldiers. At last he propped himself against a tree and held his guard up and looking around as if he could still see perfectly. He could feel the vibrations of voices and footsteps drawing ever closer to him. He could tell they were laughing at him in his current state which seemed to make him more determined to put up a fight. He was small but he was the best in their hand-to-hand combat classes.

A rough hand grabbed him by the wrist. Jesse immediately whirled his arm around and he felt his attacker's wrist snap. He threw a blind low-kick and connected with the side of someone's knee joint. Jesse repositioned his guard stance and waited for another hand to grasp him. Instead he felt a leg catch him in the ribs and he rolled across the ground. He gasped for breath and shook his head to try and get his bearings. His vision was clearing in one eye but he was still seeing flashing dots in the other.

The man he had kicked was down on one knee clutching at his dislocated wrist. Only one of the remaining four soldiers had joined him. He was about to strike with his stun-baton when the other man fell to the ground. He turned and caught two stun darts in the chest. He went into a convulsion and collapsed. Kimberly emerged from the bushes and helped Jesse stand up. She gave him a worried look and Jesse shook his head. Instead he held up two fingers and made a slicing motion with them towards the remaining two soldiers standing by the dropship. Kimberly looked at them and Jesse noticed the way her hands clenched into fists. She gave a slight glance back at Jesse and nodded once. Jesse took her stun-batons and turned up the voltage on them. He leaped into the clearing and flung one baton straight at the head of the nearest soldier. The man ducked just in the nick of time and stared in wide-eyed shock as the baton sparked against the hull of the dropship. Jesse flung the other immediately in order to distract them long enough for Kimberly to race across the ground to take one of them out with their remaining stun-gun. Just before she reached them the pilot emerged. Kimberly skidded to a halt only to get hit with four stun-darts. Her body gave a violent seizure then crumbled into a ball. Jesse's eyes grew wide as he watched one of the men walk out and gather up his teammate.

"We've got one. Now let's go." He said. The pilot nodded and disappeared back inside the Pelican.

Jesse gritted his teeth and charged them at full speed. All at once Kimberly jolted awake. The man carrying her over his shoulder cursed in surprise as she wrapped her legs around his neck and began to squeeze as much as her nine year-old body would allow. He started to pry her off but she whirled around and began pounding on his head with the thick piece of bark she had hidden under her shirt to protect her from the darts. When the man knocked it away, she proceeded pounding at his face with her fists.

Jesse wasted no more time standing by in awe. He lunged for the other soldier who seemed to be twice his size. The eighty-five pound tackle managed to knock him off balance which Jesse used to knock the man's weakened leg out from under him. Once on the ground the young SPARTAN began throwing his hardest punches at the soldier's face.

Just then something hit the side of the dropship's hull. Jesse looked over to see that the man Kimberly was fighting had managed to slam her against the hull of the dropship; hard. Kimberly's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell off the man's shoulders and hit the solid ground. The man Jesse was sitting on got his bearings and delivered a punch to Jesse's still-blurry eye. Jesse fell off and struggled to see through his right eye. The man got up and gave the same eye a backhand and spun the SPARTAN around. Jesse coughed and picked himself up off the ground. He hurt. One eye was gone and one ear was gone. Not to mention the bruises and cuts which were nothing more than a minor nuisance but did not help his condition.

The next thing he knew, he was in a strangle hold and being lifted off the ground. Jesse struggled to get air into his lungs but the man's muscles were denying him the opportunity. Jesse jolted his head back and felt his skull connect with the man's face. One hand released him and Jess dropped to his knees. He turned back and kicked the man's knee in. The enormous girth of the soldier was almost enough to crush the nine year-old SPARTAN as he came tumbling down. Jesse managed to avoid most of the shock and returned the choke hold. In one quick jerk, the man stopped moving. His partner grabbed Jesse by his throat and lifted him up off the ground. Jesse gouged him in the eyes and delivered his most devastating hammer-fist to the man's carotid artery. The man coughed and staggered back. Jesse was about to go after him again when he was grabbed from behind. He tried to free himself but his shoulder was locked. The more he struggled the harder he was held.

Finally Jesse had had enough. He let out a yell and forced himself to whirl around. There was a loud snap and Jesse caught the pilot upside his helmet with a hook. The pilot staggered back and Jesse planted a kick in his chest to back him off even more. The SPARTAN stood between the two enemy soldiers, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Just as the pilot took a step forward a gun shot cracked through the air and the man fell dead at Jesse's feet. He and the remaining soldier looked towards the edge of the clearing to see CPO Mendez standing with his M6D pistol pointed in their direction. Beside him stood four other Marines.

"That's enough all of you." Mendez said in his gruff tone of voice. The remaining soldier raised his arms in surrender and the Marines took hold of him. One of the Marines picked up Kimberly and carried her into the dropship while the others escorted the prisoner and gathered up the other bodies.

Jesse watched as his teammate was set down on the floor of the Pelican. Kimberly was bleeding from the head and her clothes were stained red. Jesse felt a deep sense of despair as the bodies were loaded up. He slowly began to realize that this had all been an exercise that had somehow gone horribly wrong. Mendez walked up and placed a hand on Jesse's good shoulder. On instinct Jesse whirled around with a fist but caught himself just before it made contact.

Mendez ignored the reaction. "Are you okay son?"

Jesse sighed and saluted. "Sir. I'm fine sir. Just a bit confused right now."

"Those soldiers you were just fighting, we're not our men."

"I don't understand sir." Jesse arched an eyebrow. "I thought that after last year's incident that you declared all personnel be required to wear uniforms to prevent further misunderstandings during field exercises."

"That's correct." Mendez nodded. "As you know, you are all training to become soldiers. Your enemies are the ones who are actively rebelling against the UNSC and causing trouble for us in a lot of the colonies. Apparently they have managed to infiltrate the planet's defenses and discover what we have going on here. We assume that they were trying to kidnap you and your team to take back and become part of their armed forces."

A chill went through Jesse's body. He couldn't stand the thought of having to fight against his friends here on Reach. Mendez escorted him aboard the dropship and began the long flight back to the main compound. When the ship landed they were greeted by the rest of the SPARTANS on the landing pad. Dan was already there with them. The kids all wanted to rush around their commanding officer and ask what had happened and why they had been taken out of their combat drills; but discipline restrained them. Medical officers rushed to take the bodies. When they reached for Kimberly, Jesse threw himself in front of them with a savage look on his face.

"Stand down 029." Mendez ordered. "They will take care of her."

"Sir! No sir." Jesse answered. The other SPARTANS stared in shock. None of them had ever dared to say no to Mendez or even considered it; or the punishments that would follow. "Sir!" Jesse continued. "My team is my responsibility. I will take her, sir."

"Not with that dislocated shoulder you won't" One of the medics pointed out. Jesse looked at his shoulder which he had thrust out of its socket to get a hit on the dropship pilot. Without so much as a word he gripped his arm and with a sharp jerk and an agonized yell, popped it back into place. The medics stared in shock as the young boy picked up his injured teammate and staggered out of the Pelican and past his fellow SPARTANS. Mendez watched Jesse go before returning to his job of attending to the rebel spies.

Two days passed very slowly for Jesse and his team. Dan hadn't been engaged by hostile forces and spent most of the time running back and forth between the infirmary and class with their instructor AI known as Deja. He had tried to warn Jesse and Kimberly about the trap when he received a radio transmission from Mendez warning of enemy intruders in the valley. Unfortunately his warning was cut off when the rebel spies set off an EMP disruptor causing all unprotected radios within their area to scramble.

Jesse had refused to take any medical treatment. When Mendez inquired as to why Jesse stated, "Sir. My team comes before me sir. You said that on the first day of training sir. 'You don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose' sir!"

Mendez gave only the faintest hint of a smile. "I'm proud to see that you remember that 029. But if you put off treatment too long then you still run the risk of your team losing. In order for a team to succeed in any mission, they must all be able to perform at one hundred percent capacity. Understood?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" Jesse saluted. He felt a new energy swell up inside of him. He turned back to Kimberly's bed and sat back down. "Sir. With your permission, sir. I would at least like to wait until my teammate is awake."

Mendez looked at the boy and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Permission granted 029. But the instant she wakes up you are to report to me. Is that clear?"

"Sir! Yes sir! Thank you sir!"

CPO Mendez left the infirmary and Jesse was alone with his thoughts again. The nurses came in to check on Kimberly and gave her some clean bandages. A couple hours passed quietly. Jesse hadn't slept the entire time since they had returned and was starting to nod off when he heard Kimberly groan. His eyes snapped wide open.

"Hey Kim. Are you okay?" He whispered softly. Kimberly gave another tired groan and opened her eyes.

"Jesse? Where am I? What's going on? What happened?"

"We're back at the main compound." Jesse replied. "You've been unconscious for two days."

"Ugh...What about the exercise? Did we win?"

Jesse frowned. "No. CPO Mendez canceled the exercise because of the soldiers we encountered in the forest."

"That doesn't make any sense. Mendez has always thrown in a twist to each exercise we do. Why would he quit now?"

"Those men weren't from our base. Mendez said that they were rebel spies who managed to bypass the base's defenses and were attempting to capture us."

"Oh...Well, where are they now?"

"The ones that aren't dead are in being questioned by ONI personnel so they can find out how they got here in the first place."

Kimberly sighed again and let herself sink back into the bed.

"I have to go. Mendez ordered me to come see him as soon as you woke up."

Kimberly wanted to protest but she knew better than to disobey a commanding officer.

"I'll try and get back as soon as I can." Jesse assured her and gave her hand a light squeeze. Kimberly looked down at their hand and realized that he had been holding it the entire time. Jesse released her and left the infirmary. Kimberly looked at her hand for a long hard minute before setting it back down and closing her eyes.

"Sir! SPARTAN-029 reporting as ordered sir!" Jesse saluted once he was escorted into CPO Mendez's office.

"At ease." Mendez nodded without getting up from his chair.

"Hello Jesse." A woman standing behind Mendez's chair spoke up. Jesse stood up right and saluted the civilian. Normally this was unheard of in the military but this woman had been no ordinary civilian.

"Sir! Dr. Halsey sir!" Jesse had been caught off guard at her presence. This was the woman who had inducted all seventy-five children into the SPARTAN II program.

"We've brought you hear to talk to you about your medical treatment." Dr. Halsey continued, ignoring his sudden jumpiness. "Because of certain events that occurred during your team's field exercise the other day we have felt it necessary to boost security around Reach. But that's not the important part. You sustained severe injuries during your skirmish that are too dangerous to operate on at this point in your life."

Jesse's heart sank. He was never one to complain about being in pain but when it meant putting him out of action he was miserable.

"The soldiers you encountered were equipped with flash-bang grenades correct?" Dr. Halsey peered at the young SPARTAN through her glasses.

"Sir! Yes sir!" Jesse nodded and straightened himself up as much as possible.

"Normally a flash-bang grenade will cause temporary distortion of one's hearing and vision. But that is primarily for someone who is already an adult and is fully developed. For someone your age, the results of a point blank detonation are extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal."

Jesse's heart was beginning to race and he felt his face get hot.

"We have two options as of right now." Dr. Halsey said and took her glasses off. "If we were to do the operation now, we could fix what is wrong with you. But the chances of problems recurring in the future are very possible. Your other choice is to undergo a new experimental procedure that will allow your body to recover to over one-hundred percent and completely eliminate any chances for future problems."

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Sir. Permission to speak freely, sir."

Dr. Halsey nodded. "Go ahead."

"What's the catch, sir? There has to be some sort of risk with this new procedure. Especially since you said it's experimental that means that not all the bugs have been worked out."

Dr. Halsey smiled at the boy. She and Mendez shared a glance before turning back. They were both glad to see that as young as these children were, they were smarter than any other child of their age in the galaxy.

"The catch, Jesse, is that you could die. Bio-augmentation is not something that is highly smiled upon in the UNSC. But in the case of the SPARTAN II program they have made an exception. But I'm giving you a choice as to what course of action you might take."

Jesse looked from Dr. Halsey then to CPO Mendez. His commanding officer made no change of facial expression. This was indeed his own choice to make. Jesse wanted to be returned to his group but he didn't want to drag them down because of him. But the thought of dying and losing them altogether was even more frightening. After several minutes of private thought Jesse straightened up.

"Sir! I will go with the bio-augmentition."He had obviously mispronounced it but he didn't care.

"Are you certain that's what you want 029?" Mendez asked without changing his facial expression.

"Sir. We all will have to go through it at some point, sir. Might as well get it over with now, sir."

"Very well then 029. Dismissed." Mendez nodded.

Jesse saluted and left Mendez's office.

On his way back to the barracks he ran into SPARTAN team three; Sam-034, Kelly-087 and John-117. This was the best team of the SPARTAN II program. Jesse had always envied John who was the SPARTAN squad leader. He admired how respected John was by the other SPARTANS. Jesse hoped that one day he would be able to lead his own team the way John lead them.

"Hey Jesse." Sam piped up. "How's Kimberly doing?"

"She's awake." Jesse replied. "Just woke up a little while ago."

"How are you feeling?" Kelly asked curiously.

"I'm fine." Jesse sighed. This was only a half truth.

"Dan briefed us on what happened to you guys." John said plainly. "He said you took a direct hit from a flash-bang grenade."

"So it seems." Jesse shrugged.

"And you still managed to kick the snot out of the enemy soldiers too. That's pretty impressive." Kelly smiled. She seemed like she was eager to hear more details.

"I'm sure any other SPARTAN would have done the same." Jesse mumbled.

John cocked his head slightly. "Is something wrong?"

Jess sighed again. "No sir. Nothing's wrong. I'll talk to you guys later."

Team three watched their fellow SPARTAN trudge down the hall to their barracks.

"I wonder what's going on." Sam pondered aloud. "He doesn't seem like his usual cocky self."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Kelly suggested. "We're SPARTANS. So that means we look after each other. We're family."

Three weeks went by very slowly while Dr. Catherine Halsey prepared for Jesse's operations. During that time the SPARTANS continued about their daily training routines with CPO Mendez. Kimberly was up and about two days after she had woken up in the infirmary and back in training the day after that.

Jesse was finding it extremely difficult to continue his training. His vision in his right eye seemed to be getting worse every day and his hearing was still very muffled. As for his broken shoulder, he wasn't about to drop out of training for it but rather he continued with the daily exercises at a slower pace. Mendez watched over him and made sure that the young SPARTAN didn't re-injure himself.

During meals, Jesse was given hormonal injections. This was ordered by Dr. Halsey as preparation for his operations. The purpose was to rapidly induce a forced puberty. Within the three week waiting period Jesse, as well as the other SPARTANS, began noticing his drastic changes. Not only in appearance but in attitude as well. Jesse had become more energetic, was learning at a faster rate and, as Kimberly pointed out on several occasions, was even cockier than he had been before.

"It's like you've become a whole different person since the intrusion at the training preserve." Kimberly said as they ate in the mess hall one night.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jesse chuckled. "I'm just trying to be me."

"As if you weren't enthusiastic about training enough." Dan pointed out. "You've been really pushing yourself hard lately. Especially since your shoulder still hasn't fully healed yet."

"I'm not about to let some little injury slow me down." Jesse replied. "Any one of us may receive an injury in the field and need to push on."

"True." Kimberly nodded. "But don't get so wrapped up that you hurt yourself again."

"Don't worry." Jesse smiled as he stood up. He was already taller than all the other SPARTANS. "We're a team right? We'll look out for each other." His teammates smiled and they tapped fists as a way of sealing the deal.

"Kimberly!"

"Uh?" Dan's voice rose Kimberly from her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked around. Several of the SPARTANS were clustered together; some grouped around her cot, others glancing over their shoulders as they got dressed for their morning exercises. "What is it? What's going on?"

"It's Jesse. He's gone!" Dan exclaimed.

"What!" Kimberly immediately sat upright. The other SPARTANS moved a bit so she could see the empty cot where her teammate had been sleeping the night before.

"What do you think happened to him?" Fred asked. Fred was SPARTAN-104 and one of their best scouts.

"Do you think another group of rebel soldiers kidnapped him?" Kimberly asked, her concern was very clear in her voice.

"All right cadets! Form up!" The DI's had entered the barracks and the SPARTANS lined up at attention. As they made their way to their usual training spot to meet CPO Mendez the murmuring continued among the SPARTANS. Once they were all lined up CPO Mendez ordered them to be silent.

"As I am sure you all realize by now, we are one soldier short. SPARTAN-029 had suffered serious internal injuries after engaging rebel spies in combat several weeks ago. " The SPARTANS all exchanged glances but didn't say a word. When all eyes had fixed back on him Mendez continued his speech. "During the night, SPARTAN-029 came to the hospital reporting that he was feeling ill."

This sent a murmur through the lines of SPARTANS. None of them had ever reported being ill even once. They had been through times of mild colds but nothing that they felt was enough to report to the hospital for.

"Unfortunately, before we could treat 029, he died." The SPARTANS were dumbstruck. They had never heard of a SPARTAN II dying. They hadn't even considered it possible. After a long, cold moment of silence, John raised his hand.

"What is it 117?" Mendez asked.

"Sir. Permission to ask what the cause of Jess...I mean 029's death."

Mendez nodded. He had expected this to come up. "As some of you may know, when in the field, SPARTAN-029 was hit with a flash-bang grenade at point blank range. Normally this would be little cause for concern. But since you all are before you prime development, the damage was more serious than we had once thought. 029 suffered from an inner ear imbalance which in turn caused a lack of blood flow to his brain thus leading to his death. I am sorry to say that he will be missed deeply. He was much like the rest of you; striving to prove himself as a soldier as well as a SPARTAN." The sounds of jet engines came from the distance. Mendez turned his head to see a pelican lift up from the landing pad and over the trees. The SPARTANS watched him and soon their gaze followed to the dropship. The pelican came to hover over the training field before taking off to the clouds.

With that, Mendez proceeded to run the SPARTANS through their daily training. The SPARTANS put in their time for training but their energy died down at dinner time. None of them had much of an appetite. They had to force themselves to eat so they would have enough energy for the next day before heading off to their barracks.

"I can't believe it." Fred shook his head in the dark. "Jesse's dead." Emotions were rising within all the SPARTANS.

"I swear that one day, we'll make those rebel bastards pay for what they did to him." Kelly hissed and cracked her knuckles.

"We'll make them pay a hundred times over." Sam agreed.

"That just means we're going to have to get stronger and better." John muttered.

"Yeah." The other SPARTANS chimed in agreement. It wasn't hard for John to get the other SPARTANS worked into an enthusiastic frenzy.

While they talked about their plans for revenge and what they were going to do to the rebels once their training was over, Dan slipped out of his bed and crawled over to Kimberly.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Kelly whispered. "We're now a two-person team instead of three. We'll be short handed from now on."

"I don't know." Dan shrugged. "We can't give up though."

"I know. But it's just going to be hard without Jesse there."

"Training has always been hard." Dan sighed. "But we'll need to stick together to get through this."

Kimberly nodded and Dan left her side. Kimberly curled up under her blankets and let her tears soak into her pillow until she was fast asleep.

**0900 Hours, September 17, 2520 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, Planet Reach**

CPO Mendez paced in front of the SPARTANS. The dropship had landed in the training preserve where Kimberly and Jesse had fought the rebel spies months before. Every SPARTAN looked around with serious expressions. Their training efforts had increased and they had put all their effort into carrying out their future plans to eliminate the rebel forces. The memory of Jesse's death lingered in each of their minds every day and seemed to resurface as they looked out at the trees.

"I am proud of the improvements that you all have made these past months." Mendez announced. "Even with the news of a comrade's death you have been able to push on and not let the news interfere with your team dynamic. So, for showing such outstanding ability I have decided to give you all a very special treat today."

The SPARTANS all looked at him skeptically. They weren't sure if he was being serious or setting them up again as he usually did.

"Today I am going to introduce to you a new game. I'm certain that you'll enjoy it." A slight grin spread across his mouth. "This new game is called Juggernaut." The SPARTANS looked from one to the other then back to their commanding officer, waiting for an explanation. "It will be a one against many exercise. The one who is 'it' is called the juggernaut. You must defeat the juggernaut." The SPARTANS grinned. This was sounding even more fun than they had expected. "But, only the juggernaut can win." The grins disappeared.

Kelly, Sam and John all exchanged glances as if asking: "How do we win like that if we're not the juggernaut?" The SPARTANS were used to fighting along side each other, not against each other in a field exercise.

Mendez lead the SPARTANS a few yards away from the pelican's landing spot. "I hope you're ready for this because the exercise begins as soon as the juggernaut is ready."

"Sir!" John stepped forward and saluted. "May I volunteer to be the juggernaut first sir?"

"Negative 117. We have already selected a more suitable candidate to be the juggernaut."

The kids all looked at one another in disbelief. They couldn't believe they had just heard CPO Mendez say someone was more suited as the role of juggernaut than John.

Mendez turned his head slightly and listened to the communicator hooked onto his ear. Then he turned to the SPARTANS. "Fall back to the dropship! We have incoming!" The SPARTANS loaded up into the pelican and the dropship took to the air again. However, it only hovered a few hundred feet off the ground. The SPARTANS were getting restless. Was it an enemy attacking? Had the rebels managed to infiltrate Reach again?

"Hey I see something!" Fred exclaimed and pointed to the sky from one of the view ports. The SPARTANS gathered around and looked up. It was hard to see at first but then a fiery object could be seen plummeting towards them.

"What the hell is that?" Kelly demanded.

"A comet maybe? Space debris?" Dan shrugged. He and Kimberly had been working with the other teams, bouncing from one squad to the next for the past months. Neither complained because they were given ample opportunities to hone their skills in different areas of combat training.

"It's heading right for us." Sam pointed out sounding a little unsteady. The metal drop pod hit like a missile into the ground bellow them. A few minutes passed and suddenly one of the sides blew off and a person dressed in ODST armor stepped out. They looked up at the pelican and waved.

"Who is that?" Sam asked skeptically.

"That, would be the juggernaut." Mendez replied. "Although he didn't need to make such a flashy entrance." John turned from the view port and looked at CPO Mendez. He was almost certain he was smiling but if he had been it had melted away by the time he turned to look back at John.

The pelican landed and the rear hatch opened up. The SPARTANS rushed out and lined up in front of the new-comer who removed his helmet. It was a boy who appeared to be in his early teens. He was long and tall and stood about 5'3''. John noticed his hair was a dark auburn that shined a deep crimson in the sunlight. His eyes were also different from one another. The damaged eye from the flash grenade was no longer brown but a light blue while the other stayed brown. CPO Mendez walked up to him and the young man saluted.

"At ease." Mendez returned the gesture before turning back to the SPARTANS. "Cadets, I would like to re-introduce you, to SPARTAN-029."

The eyes of every SPARTAN grew wide and mouths fell open.

"Sir!" John started but Mendez stopped him.

"I know what all of you are thinking. SPARTAN-029 supposedly died months ago. That story was just a cover-up while we sent him away to undergo some very delicate operations. It was also a test to see if the death of a friend would hinder your abilities to function as soldiers. You all passed with flying colors." Mendez turned back to the new SPARTAN. "029 here indeed suffered severe injuries from his encounter with the rebel spies. He would have lived had he been treated or not. But of course we can't let injuries go untreated." He turned back to the others. "SPARTAN-029 was given a choice. He would be allowed to have his operation corrected now and run the possible risk of future relapses. The other choice was to undergo a new operation prematurely. Ultimately he has survived it and has made a full recovery." Then Mendez's expression hardened. "All of you will be going through the same operation one day. But until then, let's get on with the exercise."

The dropship set down on the launch pad late in the afternoon. The SPARTANS hobbled out and to the showers. They were all sore, bruised and bleeding from the juggernaut exercise. SPARTAN-029 had really done a number on all of them. All had been surprised and caught off guard by the dramatic change of their old teammate. The showers were lukewarm and soothed most of the SPARTANS'. Dan, Kimberly and team three were the first ones in the showers. When Jesse walked in Dan and Kimberly walked up to him.

"Sorry I didn't get to say hello to you guys earlier." He said in a more mature voice. "But it's really great to see you all again."

WHACK! Kimberly punched him in the face. Dan followed her with a punch in his chest. Jesse barely budged from the blows. Instead, his two teammates gripped their already sore hands and let the shower water cool down the burning feeling. Jesse didn't need to ask what the punches were for.

"I'm really sorry guys." He bowed his head slightly. "They just came and got me in the middle of the night without warning me either. I wanted to say goodbye and let you know, but CPO Mendez ordered me to stay quiet because he needed to use my absence as a test for you guys."

"And you went along with it?" Dan snapped. "You could have left us a clue or something as to what was going on."

"Yeah. With CPO Mendez and Dr. Halsey standing over me. That would've been easy."

John perked up. "Dr. Halsey was there?"

Jesse nodded. "Yup. She was the one who suggested the operation in the first place."

"I see." John was closer to Dr. Halsey than any of the other SPARTAN II's. He was surprised that he hadn't seen her around the compound.

"You couldn't have done anything to reach us?" Kimberly demanded angrily. "Do you have any idea how upset we all were because we thought you were dead?"

Jesse sighed and turned away. By now the other SPARTANS were entering the showers and cleared a path for the now much taller SPARTAN-029.

"Where do you think you're going?" John shouted. Jesse stopped and turned his head slightly so that he could see them out of the corner of his eye. Jesse didn't answer and left the showers.

Dinner passed by slowly for Jesse. He sat at his own table away from the other SPARTANS. He felt oddly out of place. He had hoped that his teammates would be glad to have him back. But so far, this homecoming was far from pleasant. When it was time for lights-out he found himself staring at the cot where he used to sleep and his trunk with his name and number written on it. He changed into his new boxers and climbed under the sheets. He had missed sleeping with his fellow SPARTANS. He also wondered if he would even be able to sleep at all. His thoughts were interrupted by the other SPARTANS who had just finished getting changed and were clambering onto their own cots. A few minutes after the lights went out John spoke.

"You're still one of us. You know that right?" Jesse didn't answer. "Jesse?"

"I heard you." Jesse hissed. "This isn't the way I pictured my homecoming. I missed you guys even more than you missed me."

"I really doubt that." Kelly piped up.

Jesse sat up and looked at her. The bio-augmentation had greatly improved his eyesight, enabling him to see perfectly in the blackest of night. "In case you didn't hear CPO Mendez explain earlier, I could have died from this operation. If I took the first operation now I would risk bringing the team down in the future. How do you think I felt knowing that little bit of info and still not being granted the privilege of saying my goodbyes."

"You guys can't really blame him." SPARTAN-051 spoke up. Kurt was the more sensitive and socially outgoing of the SPARTANS. "CPO Mendez gave him and order and he had to follow it. How many times have we had to do things we didn't like?"

There was a long silence before anyone spoke again.

"Alright. We're sorry." Kimberly whispered. "We should've been more understanding of the situation. As much as we didn't like it."

"And I'm sorry too. For not telling you about my operation sooner." Jesse agreed. "Now can we put this behind us and get things back to the way they were before?"

"Sure." Kimberly and Dan replied in unison.

"Works for us." The other SPARTANS nodded. They rustled down into their sheets and let the silence take over once again. Then Dan broke the silence.

"So...Jesse. Tell us about this operation we're all going to have to take."


	2. Chapter 2

**1000 Hours, April 11, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

SPARTAN-029 looked out the view pork of the pelican as it descended to the planet's surface. From space the planet could have looked so peaceful. But after the last several years, he knew better than to believe anything he saw.

The SPARTANS had finished their training under CPO Mendez in 2525. More than half of them had been washed out after the bio-augmentation operation. So many had either been permanently crippled by the procedure or died during the process. Jesse was thankful that he hadn't lost either of his teammates, Dan and Kimberly.

Shortly after their bio-augmentation operations the SPARTANS were sent on their first mission against the rebel forces in the further sectors of the Erandi System. Unfortunately Jesse wasn't allowed to go. John had taken his own Blue Team instead which consisted of John, Kelly, Sam, Fred and Linda who was probably the scariest SPARTAN Jesse knew. Linda was a sharp-shooting master. Her quiet personality was downright frightening when she got behind the scope of her S2 AM Sniper Rifle.

John had been wounded during the operation but thanks to his operation had quickly recovered by the time they returned to Reach. However, any possible celebrations were cut short. Upon their arrival CPO Mendez briefed them on an incident in the outer colony of Harvest.

The SPARTANS had been informed of an alien warship entering the system and laying waste to the planet colony and the UNSC ships that had been sent to investigate the loss of contact. The SPARTANS were immediately shipped out to the planet Chi Ceti 4 where Dr. Halsey had provided each SPARTAN with their new armored suits known as MJOLNIR battle suits. The suits made the SPARTANS even more a of a threat to any enemy; enabling the SPARTANS to move faster and increase their level of performance one hundred fold.

Upon leaving the system, they came into contact with the group of aliens they now knew as the Covenant. John had lead them on a daring mission to board the single alien vessel and destroy it from within. But only he, along with Sam and Kelly made it aboard. After the Covenant ship was destroyed and the remaining SPARTANS had been gathered up, they learned that Sam had been killed in action; the first true SPARTAN casualty of war.

Eleven years had passed since that day and only two more SPARTANS had been lost. Randal and Kurt had both been labeled as MIA within a year of each other. John never liked to think of his fellow teammates as dying so he always listed them as Missing-In-Action on their team roster.

As of late, they were trying to take back the Sigma Octanus Star System. The Covenant had already glassed Sigma Octanus one and three with the plasma weapons on board their warships. Every time the SPARTANS began overpowering the Covenant forces on the ground, the blasted aliens would retreat to space and bombard the planet with plasma. So many soldiers, civilian lives and star systems had been lost to the Covenant armada and frankly, SPARTAN-029 was sick of it.

"Hey, Jesse." Dan put a hand on his friend's shoulder. The SPARTANS looked almost alien themselves wearing their massive MJOLNIR battle armor. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking to myself." Jesse assured him.

"Oh. Right." Dan bobbed his head in understanding. He knew that Jesse was not to be bothered before going into a combat situation unless he indicated that he wanted company. Over the years, Jesse had become fairly wily in his combat tactics. John had seen such a major improvement in his performance ever since his return to Reach that he declared Jesse be the squad leader of Gold Team; the SPARTANS semi-special operations team.

Jesse moved away from the view port. "Are you all set to go?" He asked Dan.

"As always." Dan chirped.

Jesse smiled behind his polarized face plate. He moved to the rest of Gold Team which consisted of Dan, Kimberly and Luke-085 and Leslie-055. Luke was the heavy explosives specialist and was well known for his ability to wield two SPNKR rocket-launchers at once. Leslie was smaller and quieter than Kimberly. Because of her size and grace in the field, Jesse nominated her to be the Gold Team scout. Luke was busy prepping his launcher should the situation on the ground immediately get hot. Leslie polished her combat knife in a machine-like fashion. Kimberly was stationed at the back of the dropship looking out at the planet's surface.

"How are you doing Kimsey?" Jesse asked in a flirting manner.

Kimberly's face plate unpolarized and she glared at Jesse. "Don't call me Kimsey." She growled.

"Just making sure you're ready to move out once we hit the ground." Jesse tried to cover up his behavior. Ever since the other SPARTANS had been been rapidly induced into puberty and undergone their bio-augmentation, Jesse had began growing more and more fond of Kimberly. One couldn't tell while she was wearing her armor, but she had grown out and developed rather nicely, in Jesse's opinion. Towards the end of their training, CPO Mendez had been lenient enough to let some of them grow their hair out if they so wished. Kimberly's hair was now down to her shoulders. The strawberry-blonde color seemed to really bring out the green of her eyes.

"If I wasn't ready then I would be busy fixing my gear." Kimberly pointed out.

"I'm only double checking." Jesse said let his hand rest on her shoulder. "I don't want to lose anyone today. Okay?"

"You say that before every mission and we've all come back safe and sound." Kimberly reminded him. "We'll be fine." She reached up and gave the hand that was on her shoulder a light squeeze. She, as well as the rest of Gold Team, knew how much their livs meant to their squad leader.

"_Gold Lead. Come in_." John's, now known as Master Chief, voice rose in everyone's com-links. "_This is Blue Lead. Do you read me?_" Gold Team straightened up and polarized their face plates, hiding their features behind a dark visor.

"Roger Blue Lead." Jesse answered. "We're listening."

"_Your team is on evac duty. For the time being. It seems that the Covenant have stationed on the far side of the planet. Their invasion forces are moving from that end over towards your team's position. Judging at their current pace, ETA should be about 36 hours."_

Jesse sighed. He wished he had more time to clear out the cities and residential districts. "Copy that Chief. Are we to expect any reinforcements?"

"_The UNSC destroyer Flawed Legacy is currently inbound on your position. They will be sending pelicans to shuttle the survivors aboard. Red team is already ground-side and setting up tactical nukes to slow them down and buy your team more time."_

"Understood Chief. Always appreciate the help." Jesse nodded. "Gold Team, out." Jesse turned to his teammates. "Alright Gold Team. Let's get to work. With Red team's help as well as the support from Flawed Legacy, this should be a cake walk."

"Yes sir!" They all stood and saluted. Five minutes later, the pelican landed on the outskirts of the residential district. There were no designated landing pads, only open fields and parks with very few structures close by. As the SPARTANS stepped onto solid ground again, Leslie looked up to the orange and blue clouds of the mid-afternoon.

"Looks like our help has arrived." She jerked her head towards the UNSC destroyer breaking through the clouds.

Kimberly held up her sniper rifle and looked through the scope. "The dropships are already inbound as well. ETA fifteen minutes."

"Ok then. Kimberly, you stay here and organize the evacuation procedures. We'll go in and get the civilians moving."

"Sir! Yes sir!" Kimberly saluted.

Jesse turned to Dan, Luke and Leslie. "Let's move fast." The four of them hefted their MA5B Assault rifles and took off running.

"Let's go!" The marines shouted as the civilians hurried along the streets.

"Don't bring anything more than what you can carry in your hands or pockets!"

Gold Team had given the civilians ten minutes to get moving towards the landing zones on the outskirts. UNSC marines had arrived to assist with the evacuation. Jesse relieved Kimberly and posted her and Leslie on look-out duty. Almost two hours had passed and hardly a fraction of the residents had been taken onboard Flawed Legacy.

"_Gold Lead, come in_." Luke's voice called out.

"I read you Gold Four. Go ahead."

"_I have handicapped here. Requesting assistance._"

"How many?"

"_It's a retirement home. There's some thirty-six unable to move, the others are just too old to move very fast or very far._" Luke sounded a little agitated. If there was one thing SPARTANS hated more than the Covenant, it was running into a snag during a mission. Snags were usually things that they hadn't been trained to deal with.

"I'm on my way. Hold tight." Jesse turned to the closest marine. "I need to get some warthogs down here ASAP. We have handicapped that need assistance being evacuated."

"Sorry sir. All the warthogs are ship-bound." The young soldier replied. Most soldiers who came into contact with SPARTANS felt a bit uneasy looking at them. The SPARTAN II project had been made public in order to increase the moral of the soldiers. But even the soldiers thought it was unnatural for such a small group of soldiers to devastate entire legions of Covenant troops within a day whereas the rest of the UNSC troops could barely overcome a patrol squad of Covenant soldiers. "I can see if I can get a couple flights of pelicans over to that position but they may need to hover down above the rooftops."

"We'll make due with that soldier." Jesse nodded. "Thank you."

"Glad to help sir." The marine turned and began patching himself through to the Flawed Legacy. Jesse turned on his tactical map and got a lock on Luke's position. He highlighted his position with a nav-beakon and took off at a steady jog. The civilians all looked at him with worried eyes as he passed them. He couldn't blame them. Only SPARTANS were trained not to have, or at least show, any signs of fear. Jesse hadn't run three blocks when he heard the sound of screeching tires. He stopped and watched as a group of civilians cleared the streets as three jeeps swerved around the corners.

"Get out of our way!" The men shouted furiously to the other pedestrians. Each jeep carried about six full grown men. Jesse was twenty-five but still looked as though he were in his late teens. He could take these guys without even thinking about breaking a sweat. The jeep sped straight for him. "Move!" The driver roared. Jesse didn't budge. He held his stance and prepared for the impact. Just before the jeep hit him Jesse executed a double palm strike to the front of the lead jeep. The occupants jolted from the impact and Jesse slid backwards leaving black skid marks on the asphalt. The two other jeeps screeched to a halt just narrowly missing colliding with the leader.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" The driver of the lead jeep fumed.

"I need your vehicles. We have handicapped who need immediate evacuation."

"Fuck you! These are ours and we need them to get out of here! If you want transportation, then find your own!"

Jesse's temper was rising. "We're here to transport you to safety! If you insist on being difficult we'll leave you behind!"

The men in the jeeps looked shocked. "You can't be serious! This is a joke!"

Jesse cycled the bolt of his assault rifle and took aim at the man's forehead. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

The men in the other jeeps stood up and reached into their belts and pulled out their own hand-held pistols.

"I think the joke is on you pal." One of them snickered and the others laughed. Four loud _bangs_ went off and four pistols hit the ground. The laughter stopped and four of the men clutched at their bleeding hands crying out in agony. The others turned to see where the shooting had come from and looked up to see Leslie standing on a nearby rooftop. Her sniper rifle's barrel was still smoking. Beside her was Kimberly with her MA5B leveled at the men in the third jeep.

"Now once again. We need these vehicles to transport those who are less able bodied than you are." Jesse repeated. "You all have healthy bodies, so use them like everyone else here is doing. We already said that we didn't want anyone using vehicles because that would cause too many problems for us. Now get out and move."

"Well you've just handicapped some of our guys." The leader tried to argue.

"You don't need your hands to walk. Or better yet, you can run and get to the medics onboard the ship even faster. Besides, you're not hurt that bad. Now move it!"

The men didn't argue any more. The other residents watched them get out of the jeeps with looks of disgust.

Leslie slung her sniper rifle and she and Kimberly hopped down from the roof.

"Thanks for the support Leslie. It would have been much more difficult if you two hadn't shown up." Then Jesse glanced at Kimberly. "You too Kimsey."

"You're welcome sir. Anytime." Leslie nodded.

"I don't know. I'm starting to have second thoughts about letting them go. Or maybe I should have shot you instead." Kimberly growled and formed her hand into a gun and pulled the trigger.

Jesse placed a hand over his heart. "I'd believe you but I know you'd miss me too much. But enough of that. Let's go give Luke a hand." Each SPARTAN climbed into a jeep and made their way towards Luke's nav-beacon. They managed to load up several of the elderly civilians and were heading back to the LZ when the marine Jesse had talked to stopped them.

"Sir!" He saluted. "A pelican is inbound to pick up those who need assistance in being evacuated."

"Good work soldier. We appreciate the help."

"Thank you sir!" The marine saluted again and Jesse nodded in response before getting out of the jeep and turning to his team. You guys get this group to the LZ. I'll go back and wait for the dropship to arrive."

"Yes sir!" Their status lights winked green on his heads-up-display. They drove off and Jesse ran back to the retirement facility. The pelican arrived two minutes later and hovered over the roof. It took Jesse a good half hour to carry all the seniors up to the roof and load them onto the deck of the pelican. Once they were all on board he took a minute to plan his next move more thoroughly.

He looked out at the enormous city several miles away. Evacuating everyone from the city would be extremely difficult under the amount of time they were given. He found himself hoping that Red Team would be able to buy them a good amount of time. Jesse returned to the LZ and gathered his team. Once they were all gathered around him he opened a COM-channel to the Flawed Legacy.

**1200 Hours, April 11, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

Onboard the UNSC destroyer, Captain Hammond gazed out at the unending stream of dropships entering and exiting the docking bay. They looked like a line of worker ants, carrying people from the residential district to his ship. Things had been going surprisingly smooth. Only a small handful of the marines had reported some of the civilians needing any type of medical attention.

"Sir!" Lt. Thomas Greene called from the communications station. "I'm receiving an incoming message, sir. It's the SPARTAN Gold Team requesting to speak to you directly."

"Put 'em through." Hammond nodded and sat down in his chair on the deck. He pressed a couple buttons and opened the COM-channel. "This is Captain Hammond of the UNSC destroyer Flawed Legacy. Go ahead Gold Team."

"Sir, this is Gold Lead." Jesse's voice could be heard throughout the bridge. "Sir, I think it's time we started getting the civilians evacuated from the city. We may have a few hundred more here on the ground that are still waiting to board. But it's going to take a lot longer to get everyone out of the city by the time the Covenant show up."

"You do understand that by moving this ship closer to the city will limit her maneuverability quite a bit and she may not even be able to provide much of any support to your team on the ground. Assuming that we indeed come into contact with Covenant forces."

"Yes sir. I am aware of the risks sir. But we have a mission to complete sir. Gold Team and I will do our best to get the job done with as little damage to your forces as possible."

"Very well then Gold Team. Hammond out." He ended the transmission and Hammond looked at his crew who were all staring at him. "Well, you heard the man. Move us in closer to the city. I want half the pelicans currently transporting the civilians in the residential district to focus their efforts on the city. Any remaining pelicans are to assist them. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" His crew nodded and went about their work.

**1500 Hours, April 12, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

"Keep up the pace." The marines called as they ushered the civilians along. The entire residential area was now deserted, all the inhabitants had gotten safely aboard the Flawed Legacy. Now that the destroyer had positioned itself between the city and the residential district, the loading of civilians was proceeding much faster. Gold Team spent most of the time gathering the stragglers and switching between look-out and escort duty.

"Gold Lead, Gold Four and I have one more batch of civilians each." Kimberly reported over the team's COM-channel.

"Understood. About how many in each group?" Jesse replied.

"Twenty-five sir." Luke reported.

"Seventeen, sir." Kimberly finished. "We should arrive at the LZ within five minutes."

"Good. Luke, how about you?"

"I'm a bit farther out sir. I would estimate no more than ten minutes if we hurry sir."

"Very well then. Let me know if you need any assistance."

"Yes sir!" Gold Three and Four's status lights winked green again.

Sure enough, five minutes later, a group of civilians rounded a street corner escorted by Kimberly practically walking alongside the jogging citizens.

"Good work Gold Three." Jesse nodded and gave her a light clap on the shoulder. "Stand guard near the dropships and prepare to lift off. Make sure the pilots know that as soon as Gold Four returns, we're out of here."

"Yes sir!" Kimberly nodded with a salute and led her group down the street to the waiting pelicans. Moments later Kimberly came sprinting back. "Sir! The dropship just received word from Flawed Legacy. A Covenant Cruiser just came into view."

Jesse frowned behind his face plate and tightened his grip on his assault rifle. "Leslie! You copy?"

"Yes sir!" She called down from the skyscraper above her team leader. She was looking through the scope of her S2 AM sniper rifle. "The carrier is closing in due east. It's taken one hell of a hit. Looks like Red Team really did a number on it. ETA 30 minutes at their current pace ."

"Are any of their forces on the ground yet?"

"No sir. But I do have multiple Covenant dropships closing fast. They have a squad of banshee fliers too. They'll make first contact for sure."

"Get down here Gold Five. We'll try and keep this fight in the streets where their fliers have less maneuverability. I'm leaving you and Gold Three to guard the dropships here."

"Yes sir!" Leslie's status light winked green. She threw a cable over the side of the skyscraper and began repelling down the thirty story building at a quickened pace.

"Gold Two!" Jesse called.

"Yes sir! Awaiting orders!" Dan called back.

"You and I are going to give Gold Four some support in case their dropship forces get into the city and hit ground side before he reaches the LZ."

"Yes sir! I'm en-route as we speak."

"Sir!" Kimberly called. Jesse turned and she thrust a rocket launcher to him and an extra salvo. "Good luck sir." She made a "U" shape with her finger in front of her face plate to indicate she was smiling at him. "Be careful." She added in a more serious tone.

"Anything for you Kimsey." Jesse made a hand-smile back and took off. Kimberly just sighed and shook her head.

Luke ducked behind a corner as a shower of plasma bolts scorched the cement where he had stood a split second before. The banshee fliers were swarming through the streets like angry hornets. Every time he poked his head out from where he and the civilians had been pinned down, another would make an attempt to hit them. Thankfully the fliers couldn't get a shot in at them from the sides and were forced to stick to the streets.

"Gold Four, this is Gold Two! What's your status?" Dan asked.

"We're pinned down. We can't make a run for it. They'd slaughter us." Luke answered in a surprisingly calm voice.

"I'll draw their fire. When they've passed, hit their blind spots."

"Copy that."

Dan peered around the corner and spotted two banshees moving towards Luke's position a block and a half away. He drew his side-arm, an M6D pistol with a mounted scope. Dan counted to three then sprang out from his hiding spot around the corner. He took aim through the scope and fired at the banshee's puny wings that angled down from the cockpit. The lead flier jerked as its left engine sparked and blew out then turned towards their attacker. Dan spun around and sprinted down the street. Luke waited until the banshees passed and was sure there were no other hostile forces on his motion sensor. Then he too sprang out from hiding and fired his SPNKR launcher. The missiles flew straight and true and the banshees hit the ground in heaps of burning metal.

Almost immediately the other banshees appeared from over the building tops and around the corners. Luke ducked back into hiding to reload his launcher. Dan shouldered his assault rifle and opened fire. The armor-piercing rounds turned the lead flier into confetti and it fell to the street bellow. Dan had enough time and ammunition in his clip to blow off the engine of another banshee's wing and cause it to crash into two more. Dan slipped into an alleyway as the three fighters careened into a building. Six down, seven to go.

"Reloaded and ready." Luke announced over the COM-channel.

"Okay. On my signal." Dan said in almost a whisper. He jammed another clip into his assault rifle and his muscles tensed slightly. Jesse had made it a strong emphasis to remain calm and relaxed during battle. "_A relaxed hand moves faster than a tightened fist._" This was his favorite quote from combative philosophy.

Dan was about to give the signal when an enormous green plasma bolt struck the corner of the building two meters from him.

"Jesus! They're going on bombing runs! They're hoping that nuking us will either kill us or flush us into the open!" No sooner had he finished his sentence than two SPNKR missiles whistled by. Two more explosions roared through the air.

"Gold Four! Open fire!" Jesse shouted.

Luke appeared from his hiding spot once again and emptied his launcher. He had his assault rifle aimed at one of the last three fliers before the other two hit the ground. The three SPARTANS opened up on the remaining banshees and the fliers dropped to the ground.

"Thanks for the help." Dan chirped as he reloaded his MA5B. "That was gunna be a tough one to get out of."

Jesse smiled to himself. "Can't let you guys have all the fun. Now let's move! They've already delayed us enough with their damned fliers."

"Yes sir!" Gold Two and Four acknowledged. Luke led the civilians out of the alley and into the streets again. They were all running at a considerable pace now that they knew the Covenant were almost on top of them.

The humans hadn't gone more than two blocks when a covenant dropship screamed over their heads. The u-shaped ship lowered to the ground and opened up its side compartments. Jackals and Grunts poured out of the dropship with plasma pistols raised. The Grunts opened fire almost immediately. Plasma bolts whizzed through the air. Several civilians dropped from shots in the back.

"Gold Four, keep moving!" Jesse ordered as he and Dan moved to protect the civilians. "We'll cover your escape!"

"Yes sir!" Luke acknowledged and continued leading the others on at an even more quickened pace. Jesse and Dan shot down the Grunts easily. These meter-tall aliens were by far, easier to kill than flies. The only threat they provided was in numbers which explained why there were usually so many of them in a group.

Dan showered the Jackals with bullets but the ugly aliens crouched down behind their energy shields attached to their arms. Jesse and Dan ducked in close to the buildings to reload. Jesse drew his M6D and sighted the closest Jackal through the scope and fired three shots. The first knocked the alien's weapon from its hand, the second bullet went through its hand and the last was aimed directly at the creatures ugly bug-eyed head. The other Jackals took several cautious steps backwards. Dan and Jesse seized the moment to fall back towards Gold Four's position. They both retreated firing their pistols behind them to keep the Jackals at bay.

Suddenly the air was filled will plasma fire again. A swarm of Grunts spilled out from both sides of an intersection to provide support for the pursuing Jackals. Dan and Jesse zigzagged in between the shots. More of the civilians were hit and fell to the ground. Jesse and Dan raced past the bodies and tried not to look. They had gone about fifty yards when a woman screamed. She turned and tried to push to the back of the group of civilians.

"No! Stop! My little girl!" She pleaded helplessly against the current of bodies. Jesse felt sorry for the woman. He didn't know why, but he stopped and turned to look back to where the bodies had fallen. A little girl was crying and struggling to get up from under the weight of the fallen adults around her.

Without hesitation Jesse sprinted back in her direction. Dan stopped and turned to see what was going on. Three Jackals were closing in on the little girl with saliva dripping from their long teeth. Dan took aim and fired his M6D. The lead Jackal jolted and fell dead just a few feet from the girl. The remaining two continued to close the gap.

"Oh no you don't!" Jesse said to himself. He threw himself forward as the Jackals came to tower over the little girl with mouths opened wide. There was a loud crack as Jesse landed a palm strike in each alien's head, crushing in their vulture-like skulls. The bodies were flung backwards and skidded across the ground. Jesse reached for the dead lead Jackal and grabbed its energy shield gauntlet. The SPARTANS had standing orders to retrieve any Covenant technology whenever possible. Jesse had learned from previous experience that Jackal shields were very helpful during battle.

Once he had the gauntlet attached to his left arm, Jesse pulled the little girl in close to him to protect her. She was crying hysterically. Jesse activated the Jackal's energy shield and the blue-white glow made a barrier between him and the super-heated plasma bolts. Jesse slung his assault rifle over his shoulder and picked up the little girl as best he could. He wasn't able to run as fast as he would have liked to but at least he was outpacing the Covenant ground forces.

Dan continued to provide covering fire as his team leader hustled back towards him. His bullets tore through the Grunt lines, leaving their environmental support suits broken and methane gas spewing into the air before exploding and covering the asphalt with purple alien blood. All at once Dan spotted something to his right. He leaped backwards as another shower of plasma bolts sizzled past. Another squad of Grunts and Jackals poured out of an alleyway and into the streets, cutting him off from his team leader. Dan tried to get the aliens out of his way but the Jackals energy shields deflected his shots.

Jesse stared at the reinforcements that had just created a wall between him and his team. He could hear the sound of Dan's assault rifle and could see the bullets bouncing off energy shields.

"Gold Two! Fall back to the dropship! I'll catch up to you later! Rendezvous with the Chief and I will meet up with you there!"

"But sir!"

"That's an order! Not a request!" Jesse snapped. Dan's acknowledgment light winked green after a noticeable pause. After a quick second, Jesse saw his teammate's signal disappear from his motion sensor.

Jackals and Grunts swarmed around the lone SPARTAN and the little girl. Jesse was having more and more trouble dodging the plasma bolts and soon his Jackal shield began to overload. In one last desperate attempt to clear a path Jesse gripped his assault rifle in one hand. He switched his gun's ammunition to shredder rounds and swept across the closing circle of Covenant troops. More of the Grunts environmental support suits burst into flame before exploding. Jesse ducked and huddled around the girl as the wave of fire swept over them. The sudden explosions overloaded the Jackals energy shields. Shrapnel cut into the alien's flesh and more of the methane gas ignited. Jesse heaved a fragmentation grenade into the confusion and the Grunts barked and screamed in their own native language. There was a loud _WHUMP_ as the grenade detonated and another burst of flame filled the sky. The Grunts had had enough. They started to panic as they usually did when confronted with superior enemy forces.

Jesse took this chance to escape. He slung his MA5B, picked the girl up in his arms and charged forward. Even though the MJOLNIR armor weighed nearly a half ton Jesse moved as if it weighed only a few pounds. Keeping his head tucked down, the SPARTAN bowled over the Covenant forces. All at once they were gone and Jesse was presented with a wall. He tucked his shoulder in and plowed through the concrete wall. The little girl screamed and Jesse cradled her closer to protect her from the falling rubble.

The Jackals were the first to get themselves composed and turned to fire at the SPARTAN'S back. Jesse jerked a heard left and burst through a door and up a stair well. The Jackals followed and hissed for the Grunts to do the same. Plasma bolts shot through to the roof of the stairwell, sending drops of searing hot metal splattering over Jesse's armor. The SPARTAN had to think fast. If one of those shots hit the little girl, there was no way she would have survived. On the twelfth floor, Jesse stopped. He set the girl down in a corner and armed another two frag grenades. He waited a second before dropping them down towards the Covenant forces on the sixth level below. There was a startled screech and the force of the explosions vibrated up the staircase. The stairs from the seventh level down had been destroyed; there was no way the Covenant could get at him from below now.

Jesse took this moment to plan his next strategy. He was separated from his team and he had no doubt that the dropships were just about onboard Flawed Legacy by now. Now he was stuck in a city crawling with Covenant troops with little to no way out. And he had a civilian to protect at the same time.

He sighed heavily. This would be the hardest mission he'd had to date.

"Kimberly! Are the dropships ready to lift off?" Luke called. He and his group of civilians had just spotted the pelicans up ahead on the very edge of the city.

"Yes sir! As soon as you get your butts onboard we're out of here!"

"Glad to hear it!" Luke puffed. He helped the remaining civilians in his group onboard the ship before climbing on himself.

"Where's Dan and Jesse?" Leslie asked.

"They were right behind me. Jesse ran back to pick up a civilian that had almost been left behind and Dan was covering their escape." Luke gasped.

"I don't see...Wait! I see Dan! He's down the street!" Kimberly looked through the scope of her S2. "I don't see Jesse at all."

"What?" Leslie and Luke exclaimed together.

Dan sprinted up to Kimberly. "C'mon! We have to get out of here! Now!"

"But what about Jesse? Where is he?" Kimberly stammered.

"We got separated. He said to return to the Flawed Legacy and rendezvous with the Master Chief at Rally Point Beta."

"But..."

"He's going to meet us there! But we have to go!" Dan ordered more forcefully.

"Sirs!" The pilot called back from the cockpit. "Are we okay for dust off?"

Dan looked at Kimberly who stared out at the empty streets before climbing into the dropship.

"Yes." She muttered darkly. "Get us out of here."

Jesse walked around the thirteenth floor of the office building. He cleared off a large desk and set the little girl down on it. She had stopped crying but hadn't said a word since. Jesse looked her over and found large gash and a plasma burn on one leg. Jesse knelt down and pulled a small med-kit from his utility belt. He set it down beside the girl and tore the cloth of her pant leg below her knee. Jesse was surprised how quiet she was being. Only SPARTANS were known to keep absolutely silent when under injury.

Jesse looked around the room and found a water jug dispenser nearby. He filled a couple cups and began cleaning the blood that had been trickling down the girl's leg. She whimpered slightly but said nothing more. Next Jesse had to clean and treat the cut and burn. He pulled out a bottle of iodine and sprayed it generously on the burn and cut.

"Ouch!" The girl screamed. She had jumped a little but wasn't able to move her leg very much. "That hurts!" She looked like she was ready to start sobbing again.

Jesse had had experience treating adults for field wounds but not kids. "It's gunna sting a little bit. I'll be done as soon as I can." He said plainly. He filled the gash with bio-foam to stop the bleeding and to keep the burn from getting infected before wrapping the girl's leg with a bandage. "Done." Jesse announced and stood up. He grabbed another cup of water and handed it to the girl. "Drink this. You'll need to drink lots of water if you want those injuries to heal up properly." The girl took the cup and sipped it slightly.

Jesse took this chance to check his mission clock. It was 1430 hours. With the few losses by the sudden attack, his team had managed to completely evacuate the city. He marked his mission status as complete and checked his teammate's vital signs. They had all made it back to the dropship alive. He shut off his team's status for the moment and began checking his supplies. He had one more med-kit and a few light rations. As far as ammunition, he was left with three clips for his M6D and four and half total magazines for the assault rifle: two shredder clips plus the half-clip in his gun, and two more for armor piercing. Not nearly as much as he would have liked but it would have to do for the time being. Jesse looked down at the Jackal's gauntlet. It had recharged and was fully operational once again.

The girl took another cup of water and took a few more mild gulps before setting the cup down. Convinced she had drank enough, Jesse turned to go look around the building. His mind flashed back to lessons from his commanding officer CPO Mendez. "_Anything and everything has the potential to be used as a weapon. You just need to get creative._"

"Where are you going?" The girl asked. Jesse detected the fear returning to her voice.

"I'm going to look around real quick. I'll be right back."

"No!" The girl shouted and tears began to form in her eyes again. "Don't go!"

Jesse gave an irritated sigh and walked back to the desk. "I'm not going to be long..."

"I'm scared!" The girl sobbed and wrapped her little arms around his massive gauntleted forearm. Jesse stared in silence for a moment. Nothing CPO Mendez had trained him in could have prepared him for this. He wanted to shake the girl off and tell her to get a hold of herself. But she wasn't a SPARTAN. She hadn't experienced all the rigorous training he and the others had gone through. At last he gave up trying to shake her off.

"We'll need to find a way out of here." He said trying and calm her down. "But I will tell you what." He reached into the back of his utility belt and pulled out what looked like an old flash drive with a button in the middle of it. "I need to go look around. If you stay here and guard this room for me I think we can get out of here much faster." He handed her the device. "If you feel scared or hear something, then press this button and I will come running back. Understood?"

The girl looked at his dark faceplate then the hand-held device. She took it in her tiny hand and nodded.

"Good. Now stay here and keep a good look out." Jesse repeated before disappearing from her sight.

**2130 Hours, April 12, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

SPARTAN-029 finished closing the blinds over the windows of the office building. Night had fallen and he didn't want Covenant patrols catching him off guard in the dead of night. He managed to talk the little girl, Lauren, into helping him lower the blinds on the thirteenth floor. Each floor had two vending machines on it; one for food another for drinks. Several had small kitchens with running water and food left in the refrigerators. Jesse made an effort to get Lauren to eat seeing as how she hadn't eaten anything since they'd met. She forced down two bags of chips and two cookies and a soda before claiming to be full. She seemed to be in higher spirits when he was around. Although they quickly faded when he left to go secure the blinds upstairs.

Jesse wolfed down an apple and a turkey sandwich that had been left in one of the refrigerators and guzzled two half-liter water bottles. He put his helmet back on and loaded a map of the city on his HUD. His main focus was on the sewer tunnels leading out of the city. The closest one was almost a block north and was the quickest way out of the city. However, the streets were littered with Covenant troops and Jesse's attention was pulled away from the map as a patrolling banshee cruised by outside.

Just then a red light winked on his HUD. Jesse's heart rate increased; Lauren was calling him. He quickly left the seventeenth level and slipped silently down the staircase. He paused outside the door for a brief moment. His motion tracker had suddenly picked up multiple contacts. There was one directly on the other side of the door. Jesse holstered his side arm and grabbed his combat knife. He slowly twisted the door handle and peeked into the room. The Jackal's back was to him. Easy kill.

In a lightning fast motion Jesse whipped his hand out. The seven-inch blade split the Jackal's throat and it made a slight gurgling noise as it's body began to fall. Jesse grabbed it before it could hit the floor and pulled it into the stair well. He flung the body down the deep chasm and turned back to the door.

He had moved so swiftly that the other jackals hadn't been alerted to his presence yet. He slipped into the room and ducked by the nearest desk. He could see the glow of energy shields spread out across the room. Jackals had great night vision but even the light from their energy shields would play hell with their ability to target him accurately. Seven targets in all, moving in and out amongst the cubicles.

Jesse moved through the shadows and to the closest Jackal. It was busy inspecting the contents of a cubicle and didn't even so much as suspect to be taken from behind. Jesse left the body where it lay and moved on. Two more Jackals went down. This was what the SPARTANS specialized in; quick and silent kills.

Jesse was closing in on the fourth Jackal when he heard the muffled sound of crying. He froze and the Jackals turned. Jesse slashed the alien's elongated neck wide and rolled to the side as the other three opened fire. He flipped a desk over and took cover behind it. The plasma bolts melted through almost instantly and Jesse dove behind another. The Jackals followed and continued to fire. Jesse grabbed his assault rifle and fired at the floor beneath the Jackal's feet. The floor gave way and the three bird-like aliens fell through. Jesse slung his rifle and stood behind a desk. With one powerful kick the desk slid across the floor and into the hole. There was a squawk as the desk crushed the aliens below. Jesse looked down into the hole to see the broken bodies twitching underneath the remains of the shattered desk.

Jesse returned to where he had left Lauren. She was nowhere in sight. He walked around the desk and moved the chair that had been placed there. Lauren sat there shaking like a leaf in the wind. Jesse extended a hand to her and she took it cautiously.

"I thought you weren't coming back." She whined. Jesse knelt down and she threw her arms around him. Jesse wasn't sure what to do. The only thing he could think of doing was setting a hand on her head to try and quiet her down.

"Kid, there's something you should learn about SPARTANS. We don't leave teammates behind. And we don't leave civilians behind." He pulled her off of him and looked at her. "Those Jackals. Where did they come from?"

Lauren shrugged. "I don't know."

"Then we should probably get moving. They were probably just looking around and now somebody is going to know that they're missing." He led Lauren back to the staircase. He picked up another Jackal gauntlet and strapped it to Lauren's arm. Then he picked up a plasma pistol and told Lauren to hold onto it. After giving her a brief lesson on how to turn it on and off he carried her up the stairs to the roof. Jesse turned on his night scanner and brought up his display of the city's sewer systems. He marked the nearest entrance with a nav-beacon and took off running. The closest building was spaced ten feet away from his current position. The leap was easy to land but he still told Lauren to close her eyes and stay quiet.

Just then Jesse picked up a signal on his motion tracker and he skidded to a halt. He listened and heard the humming of a banshee nearby. He raced to the edge of the building and crouched down. A pair of banshee fliers rose up like snakes out of a basket to look around. After a long tense moment they flew on by to continue their patrol. By now Jesse was just close enough to his nav-beacon. He leaped to the next building, a twenty-five foot jump and ducked inside the stairway to the roof just as another patrol of banshees flew over the rooftops.

Once inside, Jesse paused to check his motion tracker. Nothing. Slowly and cautiously they descended the stairwell. At last they reached ground level. Jesse paused and set Lauren down half a flight up from the ground level. He crept up to the door leading out of the stairwell and crouched down. He pulled a chord out of his utility belt with a video probe attached to it. He slid it underneath the crack bellow the door and connected the opposite end into the back of his helmet. Jesse saw an enormous figure move straight for the door. Before he could react the door handle turned. Jesse looked up into the gleaming, sinister eyes of a Covenant Elite.

The Elites were the Covenant's battle field commanders. They stood almost eight feet tall and were incredibly strong. Not only that but they were smart. Far smarter than the Grunts and even more so than the Jackals.

The Elite looked shocked to see the SPARTAN there in the doorway and paused. Then it's face opened up in an angry roar as its squid-like mandibles spread wide. It reached for the plasma rifle mounted on its hip but Jesse's reactions were much faster. He lunged forward and struck the Elite in the chest with a palm strike. The Elites towered over humans regardless if the humans were SPARTANS or not. But the blow from a SPARTAN was still enough to send an Elite flying back several feet and crashing into a row of chairs. Jesse didn't wait for the Elite to get up. As he approached the monster it raised its plasma rifle. In a flash, Jesse snapped out a kick that crushed the alien's four-fingered hand and sent the weapon sliding across the marble floor. The Elite snarled and stood up. Jesse struck it in the chest again and it's energy shields flickered. The Elite grabbed Jesse by the throat only to get its arm snapped in half. The alien howled in pain and Jesse silenced it after wrapping an arm around its neck and giving a quick jerk.

Jesse looked down at the dead alien. It's armor was blue, meaning it was an Elite Minor. These Elites were the rookies of the Elite classes they had seen in battle. And where there were rookies, that usually meant there were also their commanders: Elite Majors. No sooner than these thoughts passed through Jesse's mind than he heard an angry bellowing from outside. Jesse turned and saw another Elite, this one in clad red armor. Jesse clenched his fists as he and the commander stared each other down. In a flash the Elite lifted its plasma rifle and fired. Jesse dropped himself bellow the bolts of molten plasma and landed hard on the floor. He swung his legs around and kicked a chair through the broken glass of the building's entrance. The Elite swatted the chair aside and took aim again. By now Jesse was getting to his feet and he hurled another nearby chair at the Elite. The alien ducked and the next thing he knew, the SPARTAN was standing directly in front of him. Even though Jesse didn't know the complete anatomy of Covenant troops he guessed where to place his strikes. He drew his combat knife and slashed the arm holding the plasma rifle. The Elite hollered and hurled itself into the SPARTAN. It wrapped a long arm around Jesse's waist and slammed him into a wall inside the building. Jesse hit the wall and the marble tiles cracked from the impact. He dropped an elbow on top of the Elite's armored head which only seemed to make the alien even more furious. The Major grabbed Jesse's leg and slammed him into two more walls before hurling the human across the room and onto the pile of broken glass.

Jesse coughed. He tasted blood inside his helmet. He had never seen an Elite so pissed off before. He got to his feet and turned slightly so the Elite couldn't see him draw his sidearm. The Major's eyes burned with pure hatred. Not just hatred for humans in general but for Jesse; the one who had killed a soldier under his command and had severely wounded him as well.

Just as it was about to charge, a bright glow shone from the stairwell. A massive plasma bolt shot forward and struck the Elite in the back, knocking it forward. It's shields flickered once then failed. The Major turned a confused and infuriated look back to where the shot had come from. Lauren stood in the doorway, Jackal shield held up between her and the towering alien in front of her. The Elite roared again and took a step forward, then hit the floor; dead. Jesse put his smoking M6D away and walked up to Lauren. She was trembling again and looked as though she were in a trance. She jumped in alarm when Jesse knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It was hot." She whispered. Jesse looked down at her feet to see the plasma pistol smoking slightly. He had seen this before. Jackals were known to charge their plasma pistols and get them super hot before releasing the blast. He was surprised Lauren had charged it up like she did. Then he realized that she didn't know how these weapons worked and had probably held onto the trigger thinking that the weapon was capable of automatic fire.

Jesse reached up a hand and patted her on the head. "You did good kid." He picked up the plasma pistol and handed it to her, butt first. "Now let's get out of this place. We have a long trip ahead of us." With that he scooped the little girl up and escaped into the night.

**1800 Hours, April 16, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

Jesse set Lauren down on the ground near the river. They had been traveling for four days straight, all the while dodging Covenant patrols and scout parties. Jesse was tired but didn't make any visible indication of it. He showed Lauren where to drink from the river after making sure the area was relatively safe. He watched as she upped her hands together and drank greedily. She looked a lot like Kimberly before her bio-augmentation. Her strawberry-blonde hair was much lighter than Kimberly's though. And unlike Kimberly, her eyes were blue and her face was covered in freckles. Jesse found himself lost in thought, thinking about his teammates. He wasn't one to complain about being alone, but deep down he missed them.

Once Lauren was done, Jesse inspected her leg. The bio-foam was keeping it closed and helping the tissue growth along nicely. However, Jesse considered it necessary to clean it at least once a day with the iodine spray; which Lauren didn't take too kindly too. Jesse decided to let her rest a while. While they sat down Jesse brought up a map of the planet's surface. He was too far away to be able to communicate with anyone other than the Covenant but he left his COM-channel open just in case. He was still maybe a week's worth of travel from where the Master Chief and the other SPARTANS were waiting for him. Assuming they were still alive that is. Jesse shook his head. He couldn't be thinking like that; not now.

Jesse was pondering his next course of action when he perked up.

Lauren looked at the way his head popped up and looked around. "What is it?"

"I hear something." Jesse muttered. He picked Lauren up and lifted her to a low-hanging branch of the nearest tree. "You stay up there. I'm gunna go see what the noise is."

"Will you come back?" Lauren asked timidly.

Jesse nodded. "Do you still have that device I told you to hold onto?" Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out the button. "Good. You know the drill. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned and hurried away. The sound was even louder now than before. There was no doubt in his mind that it came from Covenant vehicles. Jesse jogged to the top of a hill and crouched down. He looked over the top of the hill and spotted them; three Covenant ghosts cruising along in a delta formation. These were the Covenant's standard reconnaissance vehicles and were often used as rapid attack vehicles. These were often difficult to take out because of their maneuverability.

Jesse gave his surroundings a quick sweep. He had the river several kilometers to his back and the cover of the trees ten meters from his current position. He checked his ammunition. He had used a lot up in the last couple days. He was down to one clip of armor piercing rounds for his MA5B and another clip and a half for his M6D.

He leaned forward and sighted through the M6D scope. The good thing about ghosts was that they left their pilots virtually unprotected. Jesse unloaded the entire clip into the back of the Elite's head in the rear of the formation. The Elite's shields flashed once then gave way to the bullets. Purple blood spattered across the controls and the vehicle came to a halt. The other two ghosts slowed down and turned around. Jesse ducked back and crouched as low to the ground as possible. The ghosts hovered past their fallen comrade and moved close to the hill.

Jesse's heart pounded in his chest. He was glad no one else could hear it. His motion tracker showed the Covenant vehicles moving closer; they were heading up the hill. Jesse took hold of a plasma grenade he had picked up two days earlier when he and Lauren had run into a Grunt scout party. Just before he was ready to arm the grenade the ghosts stopped moving. He heard the Elites burbling to each other through their mandibles. Jesse wasn't able to understand their language but he kept the grenade in hand anyways.

The ghosts backed away from the hill and Jesse put away his M6D. Bellow, the Elites hopped off their vehicles and lifted their plasma rifles. Jesse waited three breathes then jumped to his feet. He armed the plasma grenade and the Elites jumped in alarm. Jesse hurled the grenade and it latched onto the targeted Elite's head. The alien bellowed as it tried to get its helmet off in time but the grenade detonated in a bright burst of super-heated plasma. The remaining Elite was thrown off balance by the force of the explosion and its shields blew out. When it turned its eyes up the hill Jesse had shouldered his assault rifle and with a short three-round burst, put the alien down for good.

With all immediate threats disposed of, Jesse hustled back into the trees and towards the river. He found Lauren still up in the tree clutching at her plasma pistol and looking around with wide watchful eyes.

"C'mon, I found us a ride out of here. We'll be able to meet up with my team a lot faster now."

"Really?" Lauren chirped excitedly. Jesse nodded and plucked her from the tree branch. He dashed back to the hill and to the parked ghosts. Lauren cringed when she saw the dead Elites on the ground and closed her eyes. Jesse grabbed two plasma grenades and one of the plasma rifles before climbing onto one of the ghosts. Lauren climbed into his lap and looked around. "Where's the seat belt?"

Jesse cocked his head for a moment. "The Covenant don't wear seat belts apparently."

"But my mom says you should always wear a seat belt in a moving vehicle."

"Well, given the circumstances, I think we can make an exception this time." Jesse found himself a little annoyed at the remark but put those those feelings aside. There would be time for feelings after he re-established contact with his team. Lauren was about to protest again but Jesse stopped her. "I won't tell if you don't." He whispered through his helmet and Lauren closed her mouth. It took Jesse a few minutes to learn the controls of the ghost but soon the two of them were off at a considerably faster pace.

**0700 Hours, April 17, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

Jesse cracked his neck to work out the stiffness. He had been driving the ghost for over twelve hours now and his restlessness was starting to show. Lauren had managed to somehow fall asleep during the night and was curled up in a little ball to keep warm. Unfortunately every time Jesse began feeling uncomfortable, he would shift his position and wake her up. When she couldn't sleep any more she sat back and rested her head against Jesse's chest plate and watched the scenery fly by.

The SPARTAN was feeling very out of place. He had never been around kids except during training where they were disciplined in the same lifestyle and attitudes he had been raised with. Jesse took a deep breath and began to focus on his mission once more.

Ever since the Covenant had shown up, they hadn't considered retreating to space as they always did to glass the planet from orbit. That meant that either the UNSC forces were losing or the Covenant hadn't quite given up just yet. The more he thought about the subject, the more he felt that he needed to find out what was going on.

"Hey kid." Jesse said, rousing Lauren from a light nap. "I need you to keep an eye out for any signs of civilization."

"What's that?" Lauren asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jesse's grip on the ghost's controls tightened slightly. "I need you to keep a lookout for any cities or towns. We need to make a stop. Is that clear." He was trying his best to hide the frustration in his voice.

"Oh! Okay!" Lauren chirped again and began looking around the landscape more intuitively.

Several more hours passed by with nothing in sight. Jesse spent most of the time looking around himself and at last spotted something in the distance. He turned the ghost towards it and used the optical zoom on his helmet to get a better look at what was ahead. It wasn't a town or a city, but a marine command post. All at once the SPARTAN'S spirits lifted. Where there was a command post, there was a radio to reach his team with. Jesse hit the boost peddle and the ghost lurched forwards. Jesse patched a COM-channel through to the command post.

"This Gold Leader. ID SPARTAN-029. Does anybody read me?" There was static. "I repeat, this is SPARTAN-029. Any UNSC personnel, please respond."

There was a click. "Yes sir, Gold Lead. We read you loud and clear. Is that you coming in on that Covenant ghost?"

"Yes sir!" Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. "I have wounded as well. Do you have a doctor on station?"

"That's a negative sir. Our medic got hit on recon two days ago. We've been making due with what we have since."

"Roger that. Gold Lead out." Jesse parked the ghost outside the closest of the four buildings. He roused Lauren awake again and set her on the ground. Three marines came running out of the building. They stopped and saluted and Jesse returned the gesture. When their eyes moved down to Lauren they seemed a bit taken back at the sight of a little girl carrying a plasma pistol and a jackal gauntlet.

"Who is in charge here?" Jesse asked, drawing their attention back to him.

"Um...Lieutenant Waters sir. He's in the other building two doors down." The private stammered and turned to lead the SPARTAN away. Jesse followed them into the darkened room. Inside several marines stood around a table with their commanding officer. They all looked up when Jesse entered the building. Jesse saluted Lt. Waters and the man nodded in response.

Waters was in his mid to late forty's and had a scar running down the left side of his face. The marines wore the insignia of ODST's: the UNSC's Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. These were the most elite marines of the armed forces next to the SPARTANS. The ODST's were also nicknamed hell jumpers for their tendency to be thrown into a heated situation on the planet's surface. However, Jesse had seen many of these fine men and woman soldiers die at the hands of legions of Grunts, and struggle to bring down one well-positioned Jackal.

"Welcome to the party son." Lt. Waters greeted the SPARTAN.

"Sir!" Jesse nodded. "SPARTAN-029 reporting sir!"

"At ease." Lt. Waters waved. "No need to get too formal now. But I'm damned glad to have you with us right now." Then his eyes drifted to Lauren who had her arms wrapped around the SPARTAN'S hand. "Who is this?"

Jesse looked down at Lauren. "A civilian sir. My team was stationed on evac duty when the Covenant attacked. I was separated from my team and managed to rescue her in the process of escaping." Lauren hid behind Jesse's arm and peered at Lt. Waters from behind the safety of the SPARTAN.

"May I ask as to why she is carrying a Covenant weapon?"

"Sir. I have standing orders to retrieve any Covenant weapons of technology if presented with the opportunity, sir! She is merely holding it for me sir." Jesse was trying to cover up the fact that Lauren had indeed engaged the enemy with the plasma pistol. The news of a civilian engaging the enemy under the watch of a soldier would not have flown well with too many people.

"I see." Waters nodded after a minute.

"Sir. Permission to ask what the current situation is sir." Jesse continued.

"Very well." The ell-tee agreed. "Two days ago, we were sent on recon to investigate Covenant activities in the north-west region from here. We were attacked and forced to fall back to our command post here. The Covenant must not have stayed where they were for very long because the next morning we were faced with an entire fleet of Covenant troops."

"How did you survive that?" Jesse asked skeptically. The story didn't sound right to him. The Covenant didn't take prisoners and were more likely to kill a human than consider negotiating.

"We did all that we could do. He hid in a bomb shelter bellow this outpost and waited for them to pass by. They seemed pretty convinced that we had abandoned this position. Had to do some convincing though." He lifted the map off the table and blew a cloud of dirt up. Lauren sneezed and several of the ODST's laughed. Jesse gave his head the slightest twitch in their direction and they stopped immediately.

"So we're caught behind enemy lines in other words." Jesse summarized.

"That's correct."

"What's the status of your squad right now?"

Lt. Waters sighed. "We have twenty-four soldiers total. Over half are wounded. Some more critically than others."

"I see." Jesse nodded. "And what of your vehicles?"

"I have five warthogs stationed bellow in the bomb shelter and more than enough ammunition for everyone here."

Jesse lowered his head for a moment to think. "Sir. Permission to use your radio sir."

"For what purpose?"

"Sir. To get us the hell out of here."

**1100 Hours, April 17, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

Captain Hammond sat onboard Flawed Legacy. He hated being put on evacuation duty while the rest of the UNSC navy fleet was up in space fighting the Covenant. For the past few days, things seemed to be going relatively well for the fleet of ships. He had received word that on three separate occasions a new Covenant fleet had entered the system and had been completely destroyed. The ships that had been planet-side stayed there. UNSC MAC-guns made sure of that. The moral of his crew seemed to be skyrocketing as well. Word was passing among the crew that they might actually be successful in taking back the Sigma Octanus Star System. Even he was starting to believe it was a possibility.

"Sir!" Lt. Greene called.

"What is it?" Hammond sat upright and the rest of his crew on the bridge turned as well.

"Incoming transmission!"

"Where's the signal coming from?"

"From marine outpost Zero-Alpha."

"Zero-Alpha? I thought that outpost was abandoned?"

"Apparently not sir. Readings confirm it."

"Then let's hear it." He opened the COM-channel.

"Come in Flawed Legacy! Come in! Does anyone read me?"

"This is Captain Hammond of the Flawed Legacy. Who may I ask am I speaking to?"

"Sir! This is SPARTAN-029 of Gold Team!"

"Glad to hear you're still alive Gold Lead." Hammond said with a smile. "You had us worried there for a while."

"Sir! If I may be so abrupt, but we have a situation down here."

"Go ahead Gold Lead. I'm listening."

"I've established contact with the 49th ODST division. They have several wounded and need extraction."

"You do realize that you're all behind enemy lines, correct?"

"Yes sir. I have a plan to get us out of here but we will need help to pull it off."

Hammond sighed. He admired the SPARTANS but he absolutely hated their way of thinking. Many claimed that only the SPARTANS could make the impossible possible which naturally aligned with the tactics they used on the battle field to complete their missions.

"Very well Gold Lead. What can we do for you?"

John-117 watched as marines ushered civilians aboard the Pelicans to be delivered to Flawed Legacy. Several of the civilians had volunteered to help with the evacuation as well.

Gold Team had met up with Blue Team one day after they had finished the evacuation of the city they had been assigned to. He was deeply disappointed to hear that Jesse had been separated from them when the Covenant attacked. He wasn't going to put Gold Team's leader down as MIA just yet. They had a mission to complete first before they could go looking for him, if at all. He looked over at the rest of Gold Team. Dan stood with Leslie who scouted out the terrain with her sniper rifle. Luke had stationed himself on top of a three-story building further into town with his rocket launcher slung over his shoulder. Kimberly stood alone with her sniper rifle. She only lifted it to give the sky a quick sweep before lowering it again.

"This is Captain Hammond to SPARTAN-117. Do you read me Master Chief?"

"Yes sir." John replied. He listened to Hammond's orders and looked up and watched as four long-sword fighters exited the hanger. Each had a warthog attached to its bomb-bay. They were flying slower with the added weight but the Chief already understood the plan. When they were out of sight he turned back to the job at hand. "Gold Team. Form up on me." He called. In three minutes the four SPARTANS gathered around him. "I've just received word from Captain Hammond. He's just made contact with your team leader." Gold team did its best to keep themselves composed. "Hopefully if Jesse's plan runs smoothly, then we'll be a full team again."

"That just made my day." Luke smiled behind his faceplate.

"So what's Jesse cooked up this time?" Kimberly asked.

**1400 Hours, April 17, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

"All right! Now that's what I'm talking about." One of the ODST's cheered as the long-sword fighters dropped off the warthogs.

"This is what I call service." His buddy agreed.

Lt. Waters waved as the pilots flew off. "I have to hand it to you SPARTANS. You really do come through when you need to get the job done."

"Thank you sir. Now I say we get moving."

"I agree." Waters turned to the men who stood around the warthogs with big grins on their faces. "ODST's! Get your gear together and prepare to move out. We're leaving this dirt hole!"

"Yes sir!" The marines disappeared into the buildings and Jesse left to go check on Lauren who was curled up on a cot in the barracks. He grabbed some fresh magazines for his assault rifle and pistol as well as several more frag grenades. When Lt. Waters announced that the warthogs were loaded and ready to go, Jesse picked Lauren up and carried her out to the ghost. He started up the Covenant vehicle and waited for the rest of the ODST's to bring the warthogs out from the bomb shelter. A door slid open and an elevator raised them up to ground level. Jesse hit the accelerator and took off with the warthogs close behind.

The formation of warthogs formed a rough gamma-formation as they sped across the plains. The marines with the more critical injuries were put in the passenger seats and given heavy weapons. The less critically wounded and the more able-bodied varied as drivers and gunners. Jess led the formation with his ghost humming low over the ground. If the other SPARTANS were able to do their part, they might be able to pull off his plan.

**1800 Hours, April 17, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

"That's right! I got some more for ya!" A marine shouted furiously as he emptied his assault rifle into the line of Grunts. The Covenant had caught up to the remaining evacuation group. The marines and SPARTANS were ordered to hold the position outside the city until reinforcements arrived. Several of the civilians helping with the evacuation were assisting in the fight but not making a great amount of difference as they were not trained in military combat. Several were forced to stay behind the lines and assist in helping the wounded.

"Pour it on Marines!" A Lieutenant shouted. "You're not paying for the rounds!"

John and the other SPARTAN II's fired their weapons. More than half of the SPARTANS were using their M6D's to sight in on the Grunts methane tanks and cause more damage to the Covenant forces from the explosions. The other SPARTANS fired their assault rifles and sniper rifles at the Elites stationed towards the back of the lines.

"Sir!" Kelly shouted over her team's COM-channel. "How long must we keep this up?"

Two marines to her right were hit with plasma bolts and killed instantly. A couple of their buddies moved in to grab them but were hit as well. One of the marines took a shot to the face and the other lay on his side screaming in agony. Kelly leveled her assault rifle and sprayed the aliens with shredder rounds as she moved towards the fallen marines. She grabbed the wounded, man and picked him up with one hand, still firing her rifle with the other and handed him back to a couple of his squad-mates. By now the Elites were onto the humans' plan and sent the Jackals to the front. The ugly vulture aliens overlapped their shields to form a barrier in front of the Grunts to prevent any further loss of troops to exploding environment suits.

"We'll keep fighting either until Gold Lead shows up or their all dead." John replied in his usual calm battlefield voice.

"Sir! Sounds like a plan to me sir!" Luke called. He ran up from the rear lines of the marines holding a rocket launcher in each hand. He crouched behind a rock and looked at Dan and James to his left. They both nodded and hurled two frag grenades forward. There was a loud _whump_ and a hole appeared in the Jackal wall. Luke fired one launcher into the gap. Methane tanks exploded and consumed the Grunts in a wall of fire. Several of the Jackals were hit from behind and their blood splattered against their shields before their bodies hit the ground. Luke fired another missile deeper into the enemy lines; this time taking a couple of Elites in the process. The Jackals were struggling to close in the hole but Luke punctured two more gaps with his launchers before having to reload.

Several more of the Elites hit the ground dead. Each had a bullet hole in its head; no doubt from Linda's S2 AM sniper rifle. Kimberly and Leslie were assisting her in sniping out some of the higher ranked Covenant forces but their shots couldn't compare with Linda's handy work.

Luke had just reloaded his launchers and was picking out his targets when a green status light winked green in each SPARTAN'S helmet.

"Fall back!" The Master Chief shouted. The SPARTANS and marines began backing away, trying to stay protected from the flying plasma bolts. A civilian armed with an assault rifle was hit in the leg and went down. Another civilian rushed out to help him and took a plasma bolt to the stomach. The man screamed and went down, blood spilling across the ground. Two more marines picked up the injured civilian. One carried the wounded man back while the other gave covering bursts from his assault rifle. A Grunt fired its plasma pistol. The marine ducked and looked over his shoulder. The plasma bolt struck the wounded man in the back and his body went limp. The marine set the body down and the two of them turned back to the Covenant troops approaching cautiously. The Grunt who had fired on the civilian took a bullet to the head and the marine hollered in anger.

"Eat that you filthy alien!"

As the SPARTANS weaved in and out of the plasma bolts, John sent out a quick signal. Another acknowledgment light winked on. He looked over his shoulder at the pelicans settled just down the hill. He held up a hand and made a slamming gesture. In response, every SPARTAN launched a frag grenade into the air and into the Covenant lines. Alien bodies and limbs flew through the air. Methane tanks burst into flames. Elite energy shields shimmered. The cloud of dust was almost too thick to see through. The Master Chief signaled for everyone to take cover.

As the dust began to clear, the Covenant forces began to regroup with unusual speed. The Jackals sprinted to the front again and the Grunts charged up their plasma pistols. When they were able to see the humans they paused. Their prey was in plain sight but something was wrong. They weren't shooting anymore.

All at once a ghost soared over a small hill behind the Covenant troops. The Elites turned. They seemed confused that only a single ghost had come to aid them. It was only until it was too late to realize that it wasn't support that had come in behind them. Jesse fired the ghost's plasma cannons and cut through the Covenant lines. A split second after, nine warthogs roared onto the battlefield. Jesse was safely out of reach of their LAAG's and the ODST's tore into the aliens with bullets and crushed those too slow or weak to get out of the way. As the gamma formation swept through the ranks, the marines in the passenger seats dropped out lotus mines.

Jesse brought the ghost to a stop beside John. He set Lauren down and told her to turn on her Jackal shield. She obeyed but stuck close to the SPARTAN.

"Good to see you sir!" Jesse saluted.

"Welcome back." The Master Chief nodded and looked down at Lauren who stared up at him. "Who's this?"

"Civilian sir. I was rescuing her when I got separated sir. We still have wounded in coming sir."

"Very well then." John nodded and turned to see the warthogs speeding towards them, the gunners turned away and firing back at the scrambling aliens. "Get the wounded to the dropships!" He ordered over the COM-channel to the ODST's.

"Understood Master Chief." Lt. Waters acknowledged back. The warthogs sped past the SPARTANS and other marines and down the hill. Already, medics and volunteer civilians were rushing up to meet them. Kimberly inched her way over to her team leader and crouched down behind a barricade. She looked up at Jesse and they both _smiled_ to each other. Lauren, who had still been watching Jesse, looked at Kimberly and repeated the gesture. Kimberly looked from Jesse to the little girl then _smiled_ at her.

The Covenant began regrouping and the air began to heat up with plasma fire again. Jesse turned on his Jackal shield and stood in front of Lauren. He drew his freshly loaded M6D and began picking off Jackals, left and right. The other SPARTANS and marines returned fire and soon the battle-zone was hot once again. The Covenant were now outnumbered four to one and were dropping all over the ground.

Jesse had just downed two more Jackals and a Grunt when he heard a voice behind him.

"Mom!" Jesse stopped and turned around to see Lauren running to woman at the rear of the human's battle group. It was Lauren's mother looking completely shocked. She had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and was very pale in the face. She called out her daughter's name again over the gunfire and extended her arms out.

"Wait!" Jesse shouted but Lauren had already reached the relative safety of her mother's embrace. Jesse paused a moment and stared blankly at the sight of the mother hugging her daughter tightly in her arms. Lauren's mom lifted her up and berried her face in Lauren's hair, crying tears of joy. The scream of a marine getting hit with a plasma bolt jolted Jesse back to reality. He turned back around, confident that the little girl would be safe just in time to dodge a shower of purple projectiles. The razor-sharp needles punctured several marines and detonated shortly after killing them in the process. Jesse lifted his Jackal shield and deflected another shower of needles.

He was about to fire his assault rifle when he heard a cry from behind him. He turned around to see that one of the needle rounds had hit Lauren in the back and exploded. Jesse's eyes grew wide as he saw the mother fall to her knees; her tears of joy dried up upon the look of shock and horror on her face. Jesse turned and ran back to the mother. The little girl's blood soaked into the ground and Jesse skidded to a halt beside her. The mother looked up at the SPARTAN with tears starting to swell up in her eyes again. Jesse looked down at Lauren who was going into shock. She reached up with a delicate hand and _smiled_. Jesse slowly reached out and took the little girl's tiny hand in his massive gloved gauntlet. He gave her hand a light squeeze and watched as the little girl closed her eyes, never to open them to look up to the SPARTAN again.

Jesse let go of Lauren's hand and placed his glove on her head. The mother was crying again as she cradled her daughter's body close to her own. Jesse had nothing to say. He stood up, turned and walked back towards his fellow SPARTANS.

"Kimberly. Give me your sniper rifle." He said in almost a whisper.

"Sir?" Kimberly looked up at him questioningly.

"Right now." Jesse ordered more forcefully and held his hand out without looking at her. Kimberly didn't argue. There was something frightening in her team leader's voice.

Jesse lifted the sniper rifle and began searching through the remaining Covenant troops. At last he spotted him. An Elite in the very back with golden armor. These were the field and fleet commanders of the Covenant and probably the most high-ranking officers. He held a needler pistol in one hand and was preoccupied in shooting at the marines to the right of the UNSC battle lines. Jesse emptied the clip before handing the rifle back to Kimberly. The Elite Commander roared and fell to the ground; his arms and legs now useless due to the armor-piercing rounds put through them.

Jesse shouldered his assault rifle and put down ten more Grunts and five Jackals before charging forward. On reflex, the other SPARTANS jumped up from their hiding places and followed him with the marines yelling not far behind. Jackals tried to stop the wave on oncoming human soldiers. Jesse kicked in a Jackals shield and the alien's body went skidding across the ground. Everywhere SPARTANS and marines fired their weapons. Elite's retaliated long enough for their shield's to fail and then it was all over for them. Grunts broke rank and began to scatter. Several of their Elite commanders tried to order the methane-sucking aliens to fight on but didn't have very much success as they were shot dead soon after growling orders to them. In a matter of minutes the battle was over and the ground was littered with Covenant corpses. A cheer went up from the remaining marines. The battle to save the planet had finally been won.

The SPARTANS were the only ones who remained silent. They were known not to act overly joyous of such an accomplishment. They took pride in knowing that they had done the near impossible and saved millions in the process. However this time the SPARTANS all seemed more quiet than usual. After a moment the marines started to take notice in the change of atmosphere. Kimberly sank back towards Dan as she watched Jesse scan the battlefield. Jesse was covered in purple blood but didn't show any signs of injury or fatigue. At last he moved. Every head turned as he walked over to the crippled Elite Commander. The alien looked up at the dark faceplate staring down at him. He gave a slight growl and clicked his mandibles in defiance.

Without a word, Jesse raised his foot and stomped down on the Elite's throat. A fountain of blood spurted from the alien's mouth. Jesse twisted his foot and the sound of snapping vertebrae could be heard. Jesse jammed a fresh magazine into his assault rifle and began pouring rounds into the Elites face.

"Jesse!" John shouted but Jesse refused to hear him. "Jesse!" He stepped forward and grabbed his teammate's arm. Jesse pulled away and drew out his M6D and emptied another clip. He hadn't felt more out of control now than he had before in his life. But he didn't care. He was in the process of reloading his pistol when he felt something connect with the back of his helmet and blackness consumed him.

**0700 Hours, April 18, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Flawed Legacy, Planet Octanus 2**

Jesse moaned and opened his eyes.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

Jesse looked over to see Kimberly, still in MJOLNIR armor sitting beside him. Jesse didn't answer. He just moved his eyes to the lights on the ceiling. Physically he was fine. But something inside of him felt horribly wrong. Kimberly reached out and took hold of his hand. Jesse looked over at her with a blank stare. He wasn't sure how he could explain himself to his fellow SPARTANS. He felt like he was dirty. Like something was showing on him that would draw attention to him in a negative way.

Jesse's gaze fell upon his helmet which rested on a chair next to Kimberly. She followed his gaze as he sat up and handed it to him. Jesse slung his feet over the side of the reclined treatment chair and put on his helmet. No sooner had he done so than the door to the room opened and John walked in. Jesse saluted and stood to attention but fell forward instead. John and Kimberly caught him just before he hit the floor. All of a sudden Jesse's head was spinning and he couldn't feel his feet. John and Kimberly set him back down on the table but allowed him to stay sitting up.

"Easy there." The Master Chief cautioned. "You should take it easy for now. I had to hit you pretty hard back there."

"Sir." Jesse replied in almost a whisper. "I'm sorry sir. I'm sorry you had to take such actions in front of everyone else sir. I was completely out of line sir. And I will accept any punishment you may deem necessary sir."

John rested a hand on Jesse's shoulder. Jesse looked up into his squad leader's darkened faceplate. "Jesse. We've known each other since we were young. I know how you can get sometimes when you feel you've lost something important or failed at something. I will admit that you could've picked a better place to take out any feelings you had. But I also understand how stressful these past few days might have been. The mother, of that little girl you rescued had asked to see me and explained everything to me." He turned towards the open door. "You can come in now."

Captain Hammond entered the room followed by Lauren's mother. She still looked like she hadn't gotten very much sleep and had been crying quite a bit. Hammond nodded towards Jesse who saluted.

"Glad to see you again Gold Lead. Feeling better?"

Jesse bobbed his head slightly. "Sir."

Lauren's mom moved closer to Jesse and Kimberly backed up a step to give her room.

"I would just like to say thank you." She said. Jesse cocked his head in confusion. "I have no idea how hard it must've been for you to fight all those monsters with Lauren with you all the time. I know she can be a handful but she's a good little girl."

"I know." Jesse muttered and dropped his head slightly.

Lauren's mom reached out and touched Jesse's shoulder and lifted his chin up with her other hand. "I'm not sure how you SPARTANS handle losses. But I want you to do one more thing for me."

"Ma'am?"

"I want you to go on and continue saving people. Not just because it's what you do, but because it's what Lauren would have wanted too."

"I don't understand."

"When I saw her for the first time in five days, she seemed different to me. Like she was a bit older. When I held her she said something to me that shocked and surprised me at first, but now I can respect and admire her for saying such a thing." Jesse waited in silence for a moment. "She said she wanted to be a SPARTAN. She was referring to you no doubt. She said she wanted to be just like you when she grew up."

Jesse let out a low sigh and his shoulders slumped. He felt even worse than he did before. He didn't know if Lauren really could have made it through the SPARTAN program but those words coming from a person he barely knew and a little girl at that, was astonishing to him.

"Please." Lauren's mother continued. "Don't get too wrapped up in mourning for her. I think she died happy."

"But I should have taken the shot for her." Jesse retorted with a slight crack in his voice.

"Anyone could've been hurt. I just as well wish it had been me. But we can't blame ourselves." She moved her hand from Jesse's shoulder to over his breastplate. "We just have to keep the memories of those we've cared for and lost in our hearts." She gave the SPARTAN a light hug before returning to Captain Hammond's side. "Thank you again. For protecting my little girl. And allowing me to see her one more time." With that she was gone. Never for Jesse to see again.

"I have to return to the bridge as well." Captain Hammond added. "But I would like to point out Gold Lead." Jesse raised his head. "I will have you know, that I lost my entire family on Harvest when the Covenant first made contact. I had a wife and two little girls. I still carry the pain of losing them with me. But I always vow that I will do my best to live out my life and not let their deaths hinder my growth as a person or an officer. Just something for you to think about." He turned and John followed him. Before he disappeared into the hallway, John nodded to Jesse who saluted again.

Kimberly moved closer to the table and sat down next to Jesse. The table creaked under their combined weight. "You did good Jesse." She murmured. "You did all that you could."

Jesse sighed again. "Yeah. I guess." He was starting to feel a bit lighter now. "I promise, that I'll never act like that in front of you all again."

"We're SPARTANS. We're a family. Families stay together. No matter what."

"Yeah." Jess nodded. He looked down at his hands as he imagined Lauren's tiny hands fitting into his. Kimberly interlaced her fingers with his and rested her helmet on his shoulder. Jesse felt more at peace now. The sense of despair was leaving, replaced with a new desire. The desire to beat the Covenant and win this war.

**1900 Hours, April 17, 2537 (military calendar)/ Sigma Octanus Star System, Planet Octanus 2**

The alien probe had been settled in orbit for several days over the human planet. In order to keep the humans from detecting it, the probe was shrouded in optical camouflage. It monitored the progress of the Covenant's invasion down on the surface. The red eye enhanced a particular image on the ground before creating a slipspace portal and disappearing from the system.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Holy City, "High Charity," Council Sanctum **

"Father." The Elite walked into the Holy Sanctum of the Covenant. The Elite was covered in the formal armor known to the Elite Honor Guards, protectors of the Covenant's Prophets. Larranus made eye contact with his father Draetuse who was dressed in his formal councilor armor with a larger crowned head piece than his son's.

"I have just received word that your elder brother has been killed." Draetuse growled softly but the emptiness of the chamber made his voice seem even louder.

"What!" Larranus bellowed. "How could this have happened? Who is the heretic traitor? I will make sure they pay dearly for this!"

"It was not from our own forces." Draetuse raised a four-fingered hand to silence his youngest son.

"Then if it was not from our ranks then..." Larranus's eyes grew wide. "A human?" He was more outraged than shocked.

His father nodded. "I have been shown what had taken place when he was killed. He held out a device that resembled a metallic tennis ball. A hologram appeared and the image of an Elite in Gold armor came up. Larranus watched with mandibles clicking furiously as a human in green armor put four bullets through his brother's limbs. Then when his brother's troops were annihilated, the human walked up to the fallen Elite and crushed his neck underfoot then desecrate his brother's body by firing its weapon into the corpse. The hologram faded away. Larranus was trembling with hatred.

"I am sorry to give you such bad news after being promoted so soon." Draetuse growled.

"You do realize what this means father?" Larranus hissed.

His father nodded. "We are the royal family of the Elite Nation. A disgrace such as this will not go unpunished for the humans. To defile the body of any Elite is unforgivable but my son and prince of all Elites, is righteous cause for any punishment no matter how cruel or savage."

"I hope the humans enjoy their victory." Larranus snarled as gripped the handle for his energy sword tight. "Because it will be short lived once I get my hands on them."

"No." Draetuse shook his head. "The humans will be eradicated sure enough. We only require this one." He brought up the hologram of the human in green armor with his gun aimed directly at the Elite Commander. The human in clad green MJOLNIR armor. The human known as SPARTAN-029.


	3. Chapter 3

**0500 Hours, July 11, 2541 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, UNSC Military Reservation, Planet Reach**

"It feels good to be home." Leslie breathed as she and the rest of Gold Team looked out over the planet as the dropship descended. The main entry process had gone smoothly and the SPARTANS took the liberty to open the rear compartment and let the wind blow through the pelican's cargo bay. The air of the forests and mountains bellow smelled almost sweet; untainted with the stench of rotting flesh and plasma.

The past four years had raced by with a blur. All the fighting seemed to make the time pass as quickly as water flowing out of a faucet. The humans had driven the Covenant out of the Sigma Octanus Star System in 2539 and kept them out. Many lives had been spent to save the planets. But now the people of that system were busy rebuilding their homes and lives. The UNSC issued the construction of an orbital defense grid around the planets to keep the Covenant away should they decide to return. Each planet was in the process of making its geo-synche platforms which many UNSC personnel referred to as Super MACs. The magnetic accelerator cannons onboard UNSC ships were powerful enough to blow through a Covenant ship with ease. But the Super MACs were tanks compared to the pistols onboard the UNSC ships. The Super MAC's were able to take out several Covenant ships in one blast. Planet Reach was the first to get its orbital defense grid up and running in 2527.

The dropship flew in low over the valley and made its final turn, and passed directly over the SPARTAN'S home base. Gold Team stared at each other before Jesse poked his head into the cockpit.

"Pilot. You do realize that you've just missed your objective."

"Sorry sir. I have orders to bring you to Castle sir." The young pilot stammered.

"Castle?" Jesse looked over his shoulder at his teammates who shared the same confused looks. "Whose orders?" He asked curiously. There were only two people Jesse could truly take orders from without a second thought; and that was John and CPO Mendez whom they hadn't seen since 2525.

"Sir. I have orders from Dr. Catherine Halsey sir."

Jesse's muscles gave a slight jerk in surprise and his grip on the side of the cockpit's door tightened, twisting the metal in the process. The pilot pretended not to notice, but the SPARTAN had seen the way the young soldier had jumped in his seat and pitched the dropship off course slightly.

"I wonder what's going on?" Dan said when Jesse returned.

"All I can say is that it's important." Jesse said. His voice had become slightly more serious. "You can be sure of that where Dr. Halsey's involved."

The SPARTANS descended into Castle. The mountain was solid granite and had been hollowed out into a special ONI facility. None of the SPARTANS were really sure what exactly went on deep inside the base. Outside was another training facility for the planet's ODST divisions. The first three levels inside the mountain were free access to most military personnel. But bellow that was restricted. Right now Gold Team was going down bellow the fourth level. The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"What's going on here?" Dan asked as the team stepped off and into the room filled with their fellow SPARTANS.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Kelly shrugged. "Dr. Halsey took John away."

"So what else is new?" Jesse, as well as the other SPARTANS, all knew that John was Dr. Halsey's favorite SPARTAN.

"Let me put it this way." Fred spoke up. "Dr. Halsey didn't look too happy. Not that she usually shows any sort of emotion but something seemed to be bothering her."

Jesse didn't like the sound of that and he clenched his fists tight. Dr. Halsey may have been a civilian but she had been given access to more military data than any civilian had been given access to before or probably ever would be. She had been an inspirational figure to Jesse when recovering from his bio-augmentation because of how she commanded respect from everyone around her who would seem to think otherwise. She was intimidating to all levels of military officers and personnel. Not even the strictest of DI's or CO's could phase her in the slightest. But hearing Fred's statement caused a chill to run down his spine. It must have taken a lot to get under Dr. Halsey's skin.

Jesse was busy thinking when a door at the other end of the room opened. Dr. Halsey entered the room and every SPARTAN turned to her.

Kelly and Fred moved towards her. "What's going on Doctor? Where's John?"

Dr. Halsey stopped them with a raised hand. "Follow me please." She exited through the same door and the SPARTANS followed. Jesse brought up the rear. Dr. Halsey led the SPARTANS into a room with a window that overlooked a training field. On the outskirts was a white tent. It had collapsed.

"Look!" Fred pointed towards the obstacle course on the field. The other Spartans gathered around him and Dr. Halsey and looked to where he was pointing. The SPARTANS used their optical zoom to get an even better look at what was on the training course.

"It's John." Linda muttered, still unsure of what was going on. The entire area was enormous! It would have been easy to fit an entire destroyer inside the mountain. John looked miniscule compared to the size of the training area.

"What's he doing?" Jesse asked Dr. Halsey.

"He's field testing your new armor." Dr. Halsey replied without turning her gaze. Jesse looked over the area of the training area. Scattered around the tent lay several ODST's, all wounded, most unconscious. His stare drifted back to John.

"What's he waiting for?" Kimberly asked on a private COM-channel.

"Judging by those downed ODST's, and the way he's looking at that gravel field, I'd say someone's been busy setting up land mines."

"Good god!" Kimberly gasped. "Can our suits really take a hit like that?"

"I guess we'll have to find out." Jesse thought to himself.

Down on the field John grabbed a grenade and hurled it into the middle of the gravel field. The grenade detonated as well as two lotus anti-tank mines. The force of the explosion rippled through the mountain. After a moment John stepped out onto the field. Jesse's eyes narrowed as he watched his CO pick his way around as if he could see the mines beneath the gravel. In a matter of seconds he was across the field.

Next was the razor field. The SPARTANS had hated this part of their training. Here, their DI's had forced them to crawl through mud under grids of razor wire while their DI's fired live rounds over their head. Several SPARTANS had suffered minor injuries in the process but they had all made it through as children. Now John rushed through the field, the razor wire snapping as if it were glass. All of a sudden auto-turrets opened fire. John showered the nearest one with bullets from his assault rifle and destroyed it. He aimed at the other turrets and downed them with a few more rounds and a couple grenades.

John moved on to the next part of the course which some of their DI's called "The Test of Grace". This field was called the Pillars of Loki. The DI's taught their trainees to move cautiously and keep their eyes open for booby traps with this part of the training course. John clambered up the nearest pole and began delicately picking his way across the poles. It was a difficult feat for any soldier but for a SPARTAN in half-ton of armor must have been almost unthinkable.

Just then Jesse heard something. Like the sound of thunder; or a jet's engines. Jesse turned his head to see a SkyHawk jump jet closing in on John's position fast.

"What the hell is that doing there!" Kelly gasped. The ship opened fire and splintered the poles stationed in the ground. John jumped as the rounds reached him. Every SPARTAN held their breath as they watched him get pelted with bullets as he rolled over the ground. Jesse looked over at Linda and saw her rubbing her fingertips together; a nervous habit she had when she was worried about something.

"Did you guys just see that?" James exclaimed.

"Yeah. But what was it?" Fred asked. "It was like John was glowing."

"That's one of the new systems we integrated into your new armor." Dr. Halsey replied. "We didn't put certain things into the battle armor you have now because we weren't sure how well the suits would perform."

"In other words, the suits may not have supported the technology." Dan piped up.

"Yes." Dr. Halsey nodded.

The SkyHawk turned around to chase John who was sprinting at top speed across a field. Jesse soon saw what he needed to do. There was a bell in the middle of the field tied to a five-foot pole. CPO Mendez had made them do this exercise when they were kids to teach them the value of teamwork. The jump jet was closing on John fast and the SPARTAN stopped and turned around.

"Is he thinking of fighting an entire ship?" Kelly asked Dr. Halsey who remained silent.

The SkyHawk fired a missile from across the field.

"Jesse!" Luke whispered on the team COM-channel. "That's a scorpion-class missile!"

"An anti-tank missile?" Leslie hissed. "Jesus! What's ONI trying to do to us here?"

Jesse remained unmoving. He watched with wide eyes as the missile closed in on his CO. Just before impact John side-stepped and his hand snapped up. The SkyHawk passed overhead as the missile detonated. The force sent John reeling head over heals. He lay motionless on the ground for a split second before getting to his feet and sprinting back to the bell. The exercise was over. Every SPARTAN stood dumbfounded. None of them had seen John move so fast before in all the time they knew him.

Dr. Halsey exhaled as if she had been holding her breath the entire time they had been watching. She stepped away from the window and gestured for her SPARTANS to follow her. The SPARTANS followed her down to the field and met John at the elevator. He didn't seem too phased by the exercise and was brushing some dirt off his new shining green armor.

"Well done." Dr. Halsey nodded to John. "Both of you."

The other SPARTANS exchanged glances.

John noticed and spoke on a private channel with them. "I'll explain later."

"If you all would follow me to my laboratory please." Dr. Halsey walked across the courtyard and to a pair of double sliding doors. They hissed open and the SPARTANS had to polarize their faceplates to keep from being blinded from the light. Inside were rows of the upgraded MJOLNIR armor John wore. Dr. Halsey walked over to one of her computers and motioned for John to follow her. He knelt down, reached behind his neck and pulled something out. He set it on the holographic table next to the computer and the image of a young woman with short hair and blue streams of data running up and down her body.

"Well that certainly was exciting." She chirped and looked at all the SPARTANS who were staring in bewilderment at her. "Hello everyone." She smiled.

"Who are you?" Kelly asked.

"This is Cortana." John replied. "She's the new member of the team. Our new armor is able to carry an AI such as Cortana."

"Thank you Chief. But I am fully capable of introducing myself." Cortana said in a rather annoyed tone of voice. But then she smiled. "But I do appreciate you including me as a teammate."

The other SPARTANS cocked their heads curiously. Were each of them going to get a version of Cortana? Or just John? They had only known her a few seconds and they could already tell she was far different from other AI's. She seemed almost human.

"If you two don't mind, I would like to continue with the job at hand." Dr. Halsey interrupted.

"Understood." The Master Chief and Cortana replied in unison before exchanging an awkward glance at each other. A group of lab assistants came in with white coats on and goggles to protect their eyes.

"The rest of you are to undress." Dr. Halsey faced the rest of the SPARTANS. The SPARTANS shed their MJOLNIR armor and stood before Dr. Halsey and her assistants. There were at least two assistants being assigned to each SPARTAN. They moved around the SPARTANS and Jesse caught himself watching them wearily like a snake eyes its prey before a strike. His eyes fell on Kimberly who was standing next to him. She turned her head slightly just enough so she could see him out of the corner of her eye. She thought she glimpsed a hint of a smile on Jesse's face. Jesse's grin became more apparent when she tightened her fist and he heard her knuckles crack. His private thought was interrupted when the lab assistant sprayed the back of his neck. There was a freezing feeling then the area went numb.

"This next part will only take a split second." Dr. Halsey explained. "We are upgrading your standard issue neural interface so that you can react better to your new suits." Jesse felt pressure on the back of his neck and closed his eyes and relaxed as the incision was made. There was some tinkering and the sound carried through his skull. He heard the hum of a laser the felt the tingling sensation of a pulse. Suddenly he jolted forward and fell to one knee. His eyes were open and he felt a swimming feeling in his head. John was beside him in an instant. He was speaking but Jesse was having a hard time picking up what he was saying. His right ear tingled and his blue eye pulsed as if it were going to explode. The lab assistants were beside him trying to help him up but he waved them off. Jesse clutched at his eye as he stood up and blinked several times. The static like view he saw in his eye was gone and his hearing was returning.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

"Yes sir!" Jesse snapped a quick salute. "Just a little vertigo sir!"

"I apologize." Dr. Halsey called from her computer station. "I should have warned you about that in particular Jesse. Your nano cybernetic implants for your eye and ear were expected to have a bit of trouble at first when upgrading your neural implant. "

"I'm fine sir!" Jesse nodded more confidently.

Dr. Halsey stared at him sternly through her glasses and waited for the other assistants to finish helping the SPARTANS with their neural upgrades. Once they were done she began pacing in front of them. "Before we continue, I have a request I would like to ask." The SPARTANS all straightened up. "Since the SPARTANS are the only ones able to wear MJOLNIR armor, and the fact that you all are so involved in combat, I, along with several other members of ONI, have found it necessary to make constant upgrades to your MJOLNIR battle suits in order to keep up with the tide of the war. In order for these upgrades to be processed quicker we would like to have them tested out by SPARTANS rather than other UNSC soldiers to give them a maximum percentage of success when put into battle situations. I do not require all of you or even half. Just a select few who would like to volunteer."

The SPARTANS looked around. None of them particularly liked being split up from one another for very long if at all. Jesse glanced down at his teammates who were looking directly at him. He turned away from them and looked at John who was looking up and down the line of SPARTANS and pretending not to notice his stare. Jesse's gaze then fell on Cortana who had been watching them with mild interest. She was now staring directly at him. Jesse's eyes narrowed. There was something mischievous about her expression. Then he saw her raise her hand towards him and wave it in a gesture to go on.

Jesse paused a moment then stepped forward. Dr. Halsey and the other SPARTANS all stared at him. Kimberly stepped up a split second later, followed by Dan, Luke and then Leslie. One by one, every SPARTAN stepped forward until the entire line had moved up.

"I appreciate your willingness to help." Dr. Halsey said as she walked along the line. But I only need a couple of you for this.

"Sir!" Jesse shouted in a booming voice that caused the lab assistants to jump. His chest was outstretched and his head was held higher than he had ever held it before. Jesse felt a swelling sense of pride rise up inside of his. "Sir! I would like to volunteer Gold Team for this purpose sir!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" His teammates responded. Jesse was able to relax. He knew his team would be behind him no matter what.

Dr. Halsey pondered a minute. "SPARTANS, get yourselves suited up. Gold Lead. You and your team come with me."

"Yes sir!" Jesse nodded and Gold Team followed her out of the main lab. As he passed by, Jesse could have sworn he saw Cortana smiling at him. Dr. Halsey led them down a dark corridor and to another, smaller, lab.

"I was hoping that you would volunteer for this." Dr. Halsey said with a slight smile. Jesse cocked his head. "When you were recovering from your augmentation, I remember you saying that you looked up to John. You said you wished you could be like him and I've monitored you a bit more to see you push yourself to be just as good as he is."

"But I'm nothing like John." Jesse replied. "I respect and admire him and I try to follow by his example."

"And that is why he made you the leader of Gold Team." Dr. Halsey pointed out. "And that is why when I asked if he was willing to assist in testing these upgrades, he declined and requested that you be the one to do it." Gold Team remained silent. They knew John was no coward. If he wanted to he could've taken the job but John felt it a greater priority to look after his teammates rather than test equipment. "Of course he mentioned that your team would probably join you if you did." She looked back at the four other bare SPARTANS behind him. "So it was only natural that I made a matching set for all of you." She pressed a button on her the wall and a door opened beside it. Gold Team looked at the the suits of armor and grins spread across their faces.

"I love these new suits." Fred chirped as he jogged around the laboratory. "It's like putting on an old boot."

"But so much nicer." Kelly added as she looked over the metallic green armor.

"Are you SPARTANS always this intrigued by new toys like this?" Cortana asked as she looked up at John. He didn't know how to respond so he remained silent. The other SPARTANS jogged and sparred to test out their new suits. When Dr. Halsey returned the SPARTANS fell in line and stood at attention. Dr. Halsey led Gold Team and every head turned.

Dr. Halsey spent a moment looking over her SPARTANS and nodded approvingly. "I trust that you all are finding your new Mark V armor acceptable?"

"Sir!" The SPARTANS nodded.

"Good. Then let me go over with you the new upgrades to your suits." Dr. Halsey motioned for John. "The Mark V is superior to your old MJOLNIR armor several times over. Not only is the armor more reinforced, but you have energy shields that can automatically recharge if depleted. Secondly, there's another layer of material inserted into your armor so that you can carry assistant AI's such Cortana here." Dr. Halsey looked over her shoulder. "Cortana is equipped with all of ONI's computer insurgency routines and is able to improvise battle tactics on the fly. She is also equipped with the latest Covenant translator technology."

Kelly raised her hand.

"Yes Kelly?" Dr. Halsey was probably the only person capable of recognizing the seemingly identical SPARTANS in their MJOLNIR armor.

"So what's the difference between our suits and those that Gold Team has." She sounded almost jealous.

Dr. Halsey nodded and moved back to Gold Team and brought Jesse forward. He stood tall and proud in shining red MJOLNIR armor. Several sections on the armor had been colored a golden yellow specifically for his team. His armor had more components and overall looked less bulky.

"Gold Team here is donned in the prototype MJOLNIR Mark VI armor. It's plating is less than that of the Mark V but only because we have made some innovations to the suits energy shields. By using a different energy core we discovered a way to increase the shields strength as well as its recharge rate. And I remind you that this technology is still in the developmental stages. These suits are standardly equipped with an AI port as well several of the technologies Cortana has including Covenant translators."

"A poor substitute for the real thing." Cortana scoffed and Dr. Halsey gave her a stern look.

"As a basis, the prototype Mark VI has the same capabilities as the Mark V. We know that the Covenant are imitative creatures and not innovative. That is where we have the advantage on them. It is up to you as SPARTANS to use this advantage to win this war. I'm counting on you all. Humanity is counting on you all."

"Don't worry." John said and stepped forward. "We're SPARTANS. We'll get the job done."


	4. Chapter 4

**1230 Hours, September 10, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

Kimberly, SPARTAN-049, opened her eyes. She looked up into the visor of SPARTAN-029, Jesse, who was looking down at her.

"Hey there bright eyes. Welcome back." He said with an obvious air of anxiousness in his voice. He stepped back and held out a hand to her. Kimberly took it firmly as her team leader helped her out of the cryogenic-stasis tube.

The SPARTANS were on board the UNSC carrier The Odyssey. A few days ago, ONI received word from a UNSC patrol that they had detected Covenant activity closing in on the Lambda System. The Odyssey was one of twelve UNSC ships moving into the Lambda System. The ships had just exited slipspace and were closing in on the nearest Planet, Draco III. For the trip, the SPARTANS were put into their cryogenic-stasis tubes with the rest of the Odyssey's crew who nodded as they passed the two SPARTANS.

"How was your nap Kimsey?"

"It would've been better if I didn't have to think about you being on the same ship as me." She stretched and worked the kinks out of her joints.

"Yeah. The Chief was commenting about how well Cortana drives." Jesse gave a slight chuckle. "He was the first one she woke up and therefore was given the task of waking everybody else."

"I guess so. I'm surprised I'm so awake after just a couple minutes." Kimberly cracked her neck and shook herself under her metallic red armor.

"The Chief gave us all a double dose of that nasty wake-up serum."

"Are the others awake yet?"

Jesse nodded. "They're in the armory with the others. The Chief's there too. As soon as the bridge crew was up and about, he went and got Cortana."

"Well, let's get going. I'm sure we're going to have quite a few things to get together for this one."

"I wouldn't get too cocky. Remember what CPO Mendez always said."

"Don't share a fox-hole with a hero." Kimberly recited.

"Good. Let's get moving." He took off at what was considered a jog for the SPARTANS but looked like a sprint to those who hadn't spent a lot of time around them.

As they entered the armory they found their teammates going about their usual business: Kelly and Fred sparred, Linda and Luke disassembled and reassembled their weapons of choice after giving them a thorough cleaning and polish job, Dan stocked up on extra ammunition and Leslie sat nearby sharpening her combat knife.

"Sir!" Jesse and Kimberly saluted John when he turned to see them enter the room. "SPARTAN-029 reporting sir. All other SPARTANS are awake and ready for orders sir."

"Very good." John saluted. "Grab your gear and prepare to move out. We're going to head up to the bridge as soon as you're ready."

"Yes sir!" Jesse and Kimberly saluted. They each grabbed an assault rifle and several clips of armor-piercing rounds. They attached their assault rifles to the backs of their Mark VI armor and began sorting through side arms. The one thing that made the Mark VI armor a bit more handy compared to the Mark V was that Gold Team could mount their weapons on various parts of their armor. Dr. Halsey had integrated electro-magnetic holsters that made it possible for the SPARTANS to carry their weapons more effectively without having to sling their weapons over their shoulders or slip them into holsters.

Kimberly grabbed an M6C pistol. These were basically stripped-down models of the M6D. They didn't have a mounted scope but packed a slightly bigger punch than the M6D. Next Kimberly grabbed her S2 AM sniper rifle. She gave it a quick inspection before switching with her assault rifle on the back of her armor. Jesse spun two M7's around on his fingers and attached them to the EM holsters on his thighs and grabbed several more rounds for the sub machine guns. These little beauties were great when it came to moving in close to Covenant forces and could whittle down an Elite's shields in a second. However, Jesse had found out, that the SMG's were pretty useless for effective long-distance combat.

"Ready to go sir!" Jesse announced once he was sure everyone on his team was set.

"SPARTANS! Let's move!" The Master Chief called and the SPARTANS flooded into the hall. They made their way to the bridge where The Odyssey's commander was waiting patiently as they approached the planet. "Sir!" John and the other SPARTANS snapped to attention with a salute. "SPARTAN II's reporting as ordered sir!"

"Sir!" The other SPARTANS chimed in together.

"At ease." Captain Ross nodded and returned the salute. "The situation is looking pretty bad Master Chief." He said grimly. "The Covenant forces are already planet-side and are lowering troops to the surface. As I'm sure you know, we haven't had any engagements up here in space."

"Sir. I'm not one to complain sir." John nodded his acknowledgment.

"That makes two of us Chief." Ross turned to his communications officer who had been staring at the group of over thirty SPARTANS. He turned to his station and brought up a hologram of the satellite images being taken from orbit. Covenant troops were sweeping through a city, killing anything that moved. Several civilians tried to resist but Elites put a stop to that in a heartbeat.

Ross turned to the Master Chief. "I'm sending your team in. Hard drop. See if you can push the Covenant forces back until some of our ships can get down to the surface and evacuate the other cities."

"Yes sir!" John saluted and turned to his team. "SPARTANS! To the drop bay! Double time!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" They replied. The SPARTANS turned in unison and were gone in the blink of an eye. The SPARTANS reached the ODST drop bay in one minute. They loaded up into the pods and waited. A brief moment passed and then the pods were released from the ship.

"This is pretty odd for a Covenant operation." Cortana spoke up into everyone's COM-channels. "The UNSC ships haven't been engaged at all and the Covenant are already planet-side and are just beginning to invade human cities. I'm surprised that they didn't just glass the planet right off the back." Cortana tapped into the satellite's system and brought up an image of what was happening down on the surface.

The Elites dragged people along and threw them into a clustered group in the city's main plaza.

"What the hell are those split-faced bastards up to?" Dan growled. He knew that the Elites were merciless to soldiers. But why were they gathering up civilians?

"My guess is that they're either abducting the civilian population or are planning some sort of genocidal act against them." Cortana responded.

No sooner had they spoken than the Elites stepped back and the Grunts and Jackals around them rushed forward. The SPARTANS couldn't help but watch as the people of the city were torn apart by the ravenous aliens. Jesse felt a sense of hatred build up within him. It was a feeling he'd felt before but hadn't experienced in over a year.

"Cortana, have I told you that I sometimes hate it when you're right." He snarled.

"Settle down Jesse." John ordered. "Now isn't the time."

"Yes sir." Jesse replied. He took a couple of deep breaths and felt the feeling disappear. He was in control once again. "Sorry sir. I'm okay now."

"I'm sorry about your friend." Cortana apologized. "But this is war after all. There will be losses on both sides no matter how hard you try."

Jesse was silent. He knew Cortana was right just as much as he did.

"Understood." Jesse nodded and looked back at the sight. In a way, he was glad that Lauren wasn't around to suffer like the people on the surface.

Just then Kimberly opened a COM-channel between the two of them. "Are you going to be okay?" She sounded worried. Jesse remembered the way she explained how she felt when Jesse went berserk back on Octanus 2. He didn't want to worry her again.

"I'll be fine. Thanks." Jesse assured her. "But you can bet your ass that the Covenant won't be when we get done with them."

"Roger that." Kimberly's status light winked green.

"Mind the bump." Cortana called. Thirty seconds later the drop pods touched down. Several crashed through buildings others through vehicles in the street. The pod doors burst open and the SPARTANS jumped out. The Covenant stood over a city block away. They turned to face the SPARTANS and a roar echoed through the air. The Elites were the first to charge and the Jackals and Grunts followed close behind. The air filled with dust and the ground seemed to rumble and shake. Jesse and his team moved up next to John.

"Ready Chief?"

"Always." Cortana piped up before John could answer.

The Elites hollered a battle cry and raised their plasma rifles.

"Gold Four, shut them up." Jesse said.

"With pleasure sir." Luke knelt down in front of the SPARTANS with his rocket launchers and emptied his salvos. The Elites leading the charge vanished in the first explosion. The Jackals raised their shields to protect them from the second missile but were caught up in the blast. The last two SPNKRs penetrated deep into the enemy forces.

"We have the advantage here so far." Cortana reported. "Judging by the number of soldiers I'm detecting we should be able to clear out the city relatively quick."

"Then it's safe to assume you've got an idea?" John concluded as he put down five Grunts with his assault rifle. By now the other SPARTANS had leveled their assault weapons and were turning the Covenant forces into confetti. Methane tanks exploded and Elites fell. Linda, Leslie and Kimberly fired their sniper rifles into the sea of aliens, taking aim for the Elites. Without their commanders, the Grunts would be thrown into a panic and would become easy pickings. The Jackals could be flanked and killed.

The Elites pushed the Grunts forward. The smaller aliens were scrambling over the bodies of their deceased only to get mowed down themselves. John had seen this tactic many times before. When Grunts massed by the numbers, they would continue charging until the ground was piled high with their corpses and their enemies were out of ammo.

"Blue Two." Cortana called. Kelly ducked behind her drop pod and looked over at John. "I need you and Gold Four to flank them with your jackhammer launchers. Do you understand?" Kelly's acknowledgment light winked green. Most SPARTANS responded to Cortana's tactics in this manner simply because they weren't used to an AI being on the battlefield with them. But they followed her plans to the number none the less. Luke tossed Kelly a freshly reloaded launcher and they nodded to each other.

Blue Two and Gold Four raced ahead of their fellow SPARTANS and turned towards opposite side alleys. Their teammates followed close and gave covering fire. An Elite Major spotted Luke turning towards the alley and hurled a plasma grenade.

"Grenade!" Jesse shouted and the SPARTANS scattered. In a burst of speed, Jesse hurled himself at Luke who had just glimpsed the glowing blue grenade out of the corner of his eye. Jesse shoved his teammate into the alleyway just in time and ducked as the grenade sailed past his head. Jesse took a few steps forward and heard the grenade explode behind him. A wave of heat overwhelmed him and the force sent him tumbling forwards. The white light from the explosion blinded him and his visor automatically polarized to reduce the glare. When Jesse's vision cleared he was on his back staring up at the sky. His ears were ringing and he felt blood in his mouth. His shield indicator showed power at twenty-five percent. Had he been in his old armor, he would have been dead by now.

"Jesse!" Kimberly's scream brought him back to reality and he looked at his feet. He had been blown just a few meters short from the wall of dead Grunts. All at once he heard the sounds of their barks and squeals and looked up to see a swarm of the scrambling little aliens. They had seen him hit the ground and were rushing to rip him apart like the people of the city.

Jesse drew his SMG's and opened up on them. The Grunts howled and cried as the bullets tore through them. Jesse emptied his guns and rolled backwards onto his feet. He dropped the clips and had another in each gun in less than two seconds before gunning down more Grunts. He spotted another Elite arm a plasma grenade. He sprayed the alien with bullets and managed to keep it at bay until the grenade went off in its hand. Just then Dan rushed up beside his team leader and began firing shredder rounds from his assault rifle.

Just then there were four explosions towards the back of the Covenant lines. Jesse and Dan looked up to see Kelly and Luke aiming down from the roofs of a couple three-story buildings. Several of the Grunts began to flee, screaming. The Elites looked up to where the new attack had come from and were promptly reminded of the SPARTAN snipers' presence.

John finished off his current clip and jammed a fresh magazine into his assault rifle and charged forward. He leaped high over the wall of fallen Grunts and smack dead in the middle of the Covenant troops. Fred followed close behind and then James. Jesse reloaded his SMG's then joined his teammates on the other side. Dan switched out his assault rifle with his M90 shotgun on his back and began blowing away Jackals and Grunts. Soon, all the SPARTANS had moved in close to the enemy. It was complete confusion for the Covenant troops: fighting between the SPARTANS on the ground as well as the ones on the rooftops.

Jesse put rounds through an Elite Major's stomach and three nearby Grunts. John kicked in a Jackal's shield and gunned down the Grunts taking cover behind it. An Elite came up behind him and raised its plasma rifle.

"Behind you!" Cortana shouted at him.

Without looking, John thrust his elbow back into the Elite's pelvis, shattering its bones. As the alien doubled over John aimed his gun upwards and put three rounds through the Elite's head then continued mowing down the other Covenant troops.

"I hate it when you do that." Cortana said in annoyed tone.

"Well, if you can do better." John shrugged and dropped two more Elites.

The Covenant had had enough. The Grunts began to break ranks and panic. They ran in confused circles, running into each other and their Elite commanders. Dan knocked in the skull of one Grunt with the butt of his shotgun. The little alien's buddy squawked and turned to flee. Dan tossed a plasma grenade he'd picked up and attached it to the Grunts back as it ran towards an Elite. The Elite saw what was coming and turned to get away. The grenade detonated and engulfed several more Grunts. The Elite was thrown through the air, head over hooves. Two bullets went through its head before it hit the ground; another sign of Linda's skill as a sharpshooter. In a matter of minutes, the Covenant forces lay dead at the SPARTANS feet.

John waited for Kelly and Luke to return to the group before proceeding deeper into the city. Soon enough they arrived at the main plaza. Almost every head sank at the sight. The streets were covered in blood and gore. The fountain in the middle was tainted red with several torn bodies floating face down in the middle of it. Human limbs were scattered about and half-eaten bodies littered the streets and sidewalks. They had been too late.

"My god." Cortana gasped.

"All right SPARTANS let's head back to the drop zone." John sighed with disappointment. "We'll dust off from there."

The SPARTANS didn't answer. The just flashed their status lights and headed back to their drop pods, keeping an eye out for any movement along the way, should any of the Covenant troops have survived. Blue Team brought up the rear. As they neared the drop zone Fred whirled around and ran back towards an alleyway.

"What is it?" The Master Chief asked and alerted the rest of the SPARTANS.

"I thought I saw something." Fred replied coldly. "Didn't look like much, but I could have sworn I saw something move."

John moved up next to him and scanned the alley with his thermal optics; nothing. "Let's move. If something was there, it's gone now." John said unusually loud. Then he spoke to Cortana. "Put everyone on an encrypted channel for me."

"Done." Cortana reported a split second later.

"Keep your eyes open and your weapons ready." He whispered. "I think there may be some more Covenant forces still in the area." The other SPARTANS winked their stats lights and that was the end of the day's events.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Holy City, "High Charity,"**

Larranus stood tall and proud among his fellow honor guards. It had been four years since his brother's death on Octanus 2 at the hands of the human in green armor. He and his father had spent the past four years trying to study the human's actions closely. These soldiers were referred to as SPARTANS among the humans, but as far as he was concerned, they were nothing more than demons. Demons that needed immediate killing. With every battle they had lost, Larranus felt his hatred for the demons increase. They were ruthless in their tactics and merciless when it came to bringing down his fellow Elites. But today was going to be a good day.

There was some snarling and barking down the ramp from the Council Sanctum. Larranus turned to see two honor guards tower over a shivering Grunt. He walked down the ramp and soon recognized the Grunt. Yayap was a rookie amongst the Grunt ranks and had seen very little combat.

"What's going on here?" Larranus demanded gruffly. He was less experienced than some of the honor guards but he and his father were the biggest Elites in the Covenant. They towered a full foot and a half over the other Elites. His colleagues turned and looked up at him. "This Grunt is claiming that he's here to see you sir." Turronus answered, a newly promoted honor guard.

"Yes, I asked him to come." Larranus leered at the newcomer. "If you have any issue with that then I would be happy to discuss it with you in private when our cycle is over."

"No sir. My apologies." Turronus and the other guard stepped back into line.

Larranus turned back to Yayap and dropped to one knee. The Grunt was still shaking with fear. Larranus was in no hurry to try and settle him down. "I assume that since you are here, there has been word on the humans?"

"Y-yes Excellency." Yayap stammered. He held out a clawed hand and presented a holo-pad. Larranus took it and turned it on. The head of an Elite Zealot appeared. Larranus recognized the face immediately.

"Riobonne."

"Sir!" The Field Commander nodded. "I have word from one of my scouts. The demons which you and your father have been hunting have appeared."

"Excellent." Larranus's mandibles curled into what passed as a smile for his species. "I trust you still have all the data we've collected on these demons?"

"Yes sir! As do my scouts and special ops Elites."

"Good. Make sure that you are one hundred percent certain which demon it is when you engage them. I don't want anyone other than my brother's murderer."

"Understood your Excellency." Riobonne nodded.

"Very well then. I will await word of how the operation went. If you and your men succeed, my father and I will personally see to it that you are all well rewarded."

"Thank you your excellency. I shall not fail you!" Riobonne bowed and the holo-pad went blank.

Larranus looked down at the pad and began recording a message. "I thank you for allowing one of your troops to stand by for my purposes when they could be out ridding the stars of the humans vermin. I would ask that you give your soldier at least two cycles rest and see to it that he is pampered well enough to his liking." He handed the pad back to Yayap. "I thank you for coming. See to it that your commander receives that message."

Yayap's mood had greatly improved upon hearing the news that he was to have a few days off. "Yes your Excellency! Thank you!" He bowed deeply and scrambled off.

The other honor guards watched as Larranus returned to his position. He seemed to stand even taller than usual. They could tell something good was going to happen for them if Larranus was willing to show such charity to a lowly Grunt. They began to click their mandibles with anticipation and Larranus felt his grip on his honor blade tighten. It was going to be a good day.

**1030 Hours, September 11, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

Riobonne paced back in front of his soldiers. He had called out his special ops soldiers to carry out Prince Larranus's plan to seize the demon that had murdered his brother the first Prince of the Elites. The Grunts and Elites who stood before him were dressed in shining black armor. These were some of the proudest soldiers he had ever seen, even the Grunts.

"It has been four years since the death of our First Prince Hurrantous. His younger brother Second Prince Larranus had personally given us the honor of carrying out his revenge."

The Elites roared.

"He has made our mission clear. We are to identify the First Prince's murderer and capture him. We are then ordered to return to High Charity immediately."

"We shall not fail our Prince!" The Elites bellowed.

Just then a shadow slipped into the room. Riobonne turned and the Elite appeared as if out of thin air. This was another Special Ops Elite, but a scout wearing white armor rather than the standard black which had a tendency to get fairly warm.

"Sir!" The young Elite stood at attention.

"Report." Riobonne nodded.

"I have found the ideal place to set his Excellency's plan in motion."

"Good." Riobonne turned back to the other troops. "Move out!"

**1230 Hours, September 11, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

Private Leroy walked out of the base and stretched. He had been put on guard duty for the first fifteen hours of the Covenant's invasion of Draco III. When his squad received word of an entire Covenant battalion being decimated he knew that the SPARTANS had come. The young soldier had always looked up to these heros of the human forces and strove to become one in his own mind. He had just woken up from a ten hour rest period and the sun was blinding. The canyon was relatively warm for that time of year but he was not complaining. Draco III was known to have extremely cold winters and fall was hardly better.

"Hey Leroy! Glad to see you awake!"

Leroy turned to see a marine standing on the roof of their base. Private Young was the other rookie of the squad. He had replaced Leroy when his watch shift was over.

"Yeah!" Leroy smiled. "I swear I'm never taking sleep for granted again!"

"I hear you." Young laughed. "Where are you going?"

"I told Sergeant Michael I was needed some fresh air and volunteered to scout around the canyon a bit."

"And he went for that?"

"I guess so. I'll be back later." Leroy waved.

"Keep us posted."

Leroy jogged along the canyon floor with his assault rifle slung over his shoulder. If it hadn't been for the Covenant on the planet, he would have enjoyed the scenery much more. After about ten minutes of jogging he slowed to a walk. He hadn't been walking for very long when a cluster of native birds flew out of the trees above him. Leroy jumped and raised his assault rifle. When the birds were gone he took a deep breath.

"I must still be tired. I just let a bunch of feather-brains get the jump on me." He almost laughed at the thought of his squad-mates seeing him right now. He squinted up at the suns high in the sky. It almost seemed like it had gotten hotter out. "That's odd." He pondered aloud. "Hey Young, you there?"

"Roger that. What's going on?"

"Did this planet always have two suns?"

There was a brief silence. "Leroy, this planet doesn't have two suns."

"Say what? Then what's...?" He squinted up then his eyes grew wide. "Son-of-a..."

Young drew his sniper rifle and looked through the scope. He looked up at the sun and then something caught his eye. A blue glob arching high in the air over his teammate's position. The glob hovered for a brief second then dropped to the ground.

"No! Leroy! Get out of there!" Young shouted into his communicator but it was too late. He watched in horror as his teammate turned to run and was obliterated by the plasma bomb. The earth heated white hot then cooled to a glossy surface.

"What's going on up here!" Corporal Samson demanded as he climbed up to the roof.

"Sir! It's the Covenant! They just took out Leroy!"

"Shit!" Samson cursed looked through his binoculars. "How strong are their forces?"

"I don't know sir." Young stammered. "I do know that they have at least one of their mortar tanks with them." Samson turned a wide-eyed look to the private. Wraiths made any situation with the Covenant go from bad to worse. Young's eyes rose up and Samson turned around to follow his gaze. High in the sky, five plasma bombs seemed to stare down at them like a hawk preparing to dive in for the kill.

"Move! Move! Move!" Samson shouted. He jumped down the ladder and Young followed close behind.

"Are we under attack?" Another marine asked as he looked down the ladder. A split second later one of the plasma bombs hit the roof and melted the ceiling dousing the soldier in molten metal. Four more explosions rattled the base from outside.

"Marines! Combat situation!" Samson shouted as he rushed towards his CO's quarters. Sergeant Michael rushed up to them. He was already cycling the bolt of his MA5B assault rifle.

"Status report soldiers!" He demanded.

"Sir! We have Covenant mortar tanks stationed down the canyon high on the walls." Samson reported.

"Any other ground forces?"

"None sighted yet sir! We..." Samson was interrupted by shouts and automatic weapons fire in the hallway. There were shouts and then screams as the air filled heavy with the smell of plasma fire. Several Marines in the hall raised their rifles as did Samson, Young and Sergeant Michael. The shouts and weapons fire on the floor above slowly came to an eerie stop. Michael's gaze moved up to the ceiling. The ceiling began to take on a slight blue tint and his eyes grew wide.

"Get down!" He shouted and pulled Young and Samson around the corner as the plasma grenade blew a hole in the ceiling. The other marines began shouting again and turned to fire. Young peered around the corner and he saw five shimmering figures drop down through the hole. Two carried a weapon he had never seen before. It was a plasma weapon no doubt, but his was shaped like an odd sort of fork. The two figures lunged for the marines and swung their handheld weapons. A marine screamed as his torso was severed from his legs. The others began firing as the two figures pushed towards them. Another marine was cut down with the energy weapon before one of the figures dropped dead and its optical camouflage disappeared. Young's eyes grew wide when he recognized the Elite. The other figure gave a mighty swing with its weapon and cut through two more marines. Three marines still remained. They took aim at the figure then fell dead. A group of Grunt Special Ops stood behind them with plasma pistols smoking. The three other cloaked Elites turned to Young who ducked behind the corner again.

"Sir! The others are dead." He whispered. For what reason he didn't know.

"There's no way we're getting out of this alive sir." Samson pointed out.

"I hate to agree." Young nodded. "I say we go down swinging."

"Agreed." Sergeant Michael nodded. He raised a hand and counted to three. The marines sprang out from around the corner with weapons raised. The hallway was empty.

"What the hell?" Samson cocked an eyebrow. Just then the Grunts moved. They fired their plasma pistols while still in active camouflage. Young took a plasma bolt in the stomach and went down screaming. Michael and Samson put down the Grunts and turned to their wounded teammate.

"Aaaahhhh! Damn it! It burns!" Young hollered. Michael turned around at the sound of a footstep. A group of Elites appeared from out of thin air, each covered in glossy black armor. Samson and Michael turned with rifles raised when the head Elite raised its hand.

"Stop!" It said. Samson and Michael were dumbstruck. They had never heard one of these aliens speak to them before.

"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't turn you into swiss cheese right now squid face?" Samson snapped.

"We did not come to fight. We came to negotiate." The Elite replied.

"That's bullshit!" Samson shot back. "You nuked one of our guys out in the canyon and slaughtered the rest just thirty seconds ago!"

"That was all a misunderstanding. I assure you." The Elite kept its hand raised to try and keep the human somewhat settled. "Our tank operators misunderstood their orders. They were to bombard your base without any casualties. But apparently one of your men was hit from the first shot. The others took it as an initiative to attack without mercy. We have dealt away with them."

"Then why did you just come in and kill everyone here?" Michael demanded and took aim at the Elite's face.

"Your soldiers attacked us first."

"Can you blame us?" Samson spat.

Just then there was a groan from the floor. Every head turned to look down at Young whose blood covered the floor.

"This is for Leroy." He wheezed as blood trickled out of his mouth. He pulled the trigger of his assault rifle and showered two Elites in the rear. They dropped dead and another Elite stepped forward, plasma rifle raised. It fired once and hit Young square in the face.

"You see." The Elite continued as though nothing had happened. "That's how you humans would have reacted to our presence. That was why we wanted to sneak in and try and negotiate with the leader of your troops."

"Negotiate?" Samson almost laughed. "Negotiate what? How we want you to kill us? No thanks!"

"That's enough soldier!" Michael held up a hand to silence him before turning his attention back to the Elite. "I'm listening."

"What! Sir! You can be serious!" Samson protested.

"I said that's enough soldier!" Michael snarled. "I'm giving you a direct order to keep your mouth shut! Do I make myself clear?"

"But sir! You can't go along with this! The Covenant can't be trusted! You know just as well as I do that they don't take prisoners under any circumstances! They..." An Elite charged forward and cut him off. Samson felt the super hot energy sword pierce through his stomach. He looked at his CO with blood dripping down his chin and sizzling on the plasma weapon. Samson shook his head in one last desperate attempt to persuade his Sergeant to reconsider his decision. The Elite withdrew his weapon and Samson's body fell to the floor.

"So I can assume I have your cooperation?"

"I'm all ears." Sergeant Michael nodded and held out a hand.

**1400 Hours, September 10, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

Gold Team stood at the top of the hill overlooking the city down bellow. The Odyssey had moved down to the planet and the marines and ODST's had set up a base of operations on the outskirts of the city. Pillars of smoke lifted up from the city. Pelicans were ordered to drop napalm bombs into the city to burn the bodies contained therein.

Jesse's stare remained unmoving. Kimberly watched him out of the corner of her eye and moved closer to him. Jesse broke his stare to look at her when she took hold of his hand. After they gazed at each other for a moment the team turned and walked back to the camp.

They sat outside their tents and began getting their gear together. All the SPARTANS sat in silence. No one was happy with the results of their attempted rescue. But at least the civilians had been avenged.

"I wonder how many other city populations have had to suffer." Leslie said over a SPARTAN-only COM-channel.

"I'd prefer not to think about it." Kelly replied.

"Me neither." Dan nodded. "We'll avenge every person the Covenant murders a hundred fold. So there's no point in thinking too much about the lives lost."

"We'll beat the Covenant." Jesse muttered. "You can be sure of that."

"You're right about that." John said walking up to the group. "And it seems you'll be getting another chance."

"Sir!" Jesse and his team saluted and all the SPARTANS rose to their feet.

"We just received a distress call from a group of marines who are stationed in Serpent Canyon due south of our position. They're pinned down by Covenant mortar tanks so we'll need some of our own heavy artillery. We're shipping out now."

"Yes sir!" The SPARTANS nodded and had their gear mounted and ready to go.

"Gold Team. Come with me." The Master Chief motioned for Jesse and his team to follow him. "Dr. Halsey's team of scientists have sent your team some new equipment to field test."

"Sounds good to me." Dan said a bit more cheerfully.

John led them over to a pair of warthogs with a crate next to each one.

"You've got two minutes to load up the new gear and meet us on the southern end of camp."

"Yes sir!" Jesse saluted and John returned the salute, then hurried off.

Luke opened up the crates and pulled out some new assault rifles. They were lighter and smaller with fewer rounds in their clips.

"These things don't look like much." He commented as he passed them around to his teammates.

Kimberly frowned behind her faceplate. "Luke, if there's one thing you should have picked up by now, is that you should never under estimate a SPARTAN with a weapon."

"Enough chit chat you two." Jesse interrupted. "Let's move!"

"Yes sir!" Jesse and Dan hopped into the driver's seats and Kimberly took the gunner's position behind Jesse while Leslie climbed in behind Dan. Luke climbed into the passenger seat of Dan's hog and tucked his launcher between his legs. Jesse lead the way and met up with the Master Chief and the other SPARTANS who had all gathered in their own warthogs. Jesse flashed his status light and John nodded. The warthogs sped off in a cloud of dust towards the south, towards the Covenant controlled Serpent Canyon.

**0900 Hours, September 11, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

"Hold positions!" The Master Chief ordered. The warthogs roared to a halt. The SPARTANS had travelled nonstop through the night. The sun was now high in the sky and they were approaching Serpent Canyon. John used his helmet's optical zoom to scout out the landscape ahead. Up ahead he could see a line of wraith mortar tanks lined up along the canyon's cliffs. It would be extremely difficult for the warthogs to maneuver around those tanks so close to the cliff edge. "Any ideas Cortana?"

"I would suggest that Gold Team goes in. Their new gausshogs were made specifically to deal with the Covenant's heavy armored vehicles. This would be a good chance to test them out."

John didn't particularly like the idea of Gold Team being the guinea pigs for untested equipment. But he trusted that Jesse would be able to take care of his team should anything go sour. "Alright then." John agreed reluctantly. "Gold Lead. You and your team are in charge of taking out those tanks." Cortana sent them a picture of the wraiths stationed up ahead. Cortana says that your new warthogs are made for just such an occasion."

"Yes sir. We know. She's been briefing us on the details while we've been en-route. Gold team is ready to go."

"Very well then. We'll hang back unless you call for assistance."

"I've got us covered sir so assistance won't be necessary." Jesse smirked under his helmet. He hit the gas and the gausshog lurched forward. Dan formed up on his flank and Jesse saw Luke ready his rocket launcher. The wraiths were dead ahead and they turned to face the oncoming vehicles. They turned their barrels to the sky and belched out huge globs of plasma. "Evasive maneuvers!" Jesse shouted and swerved to the right and Dan went left. The plasma bombs landed just behind them and the explosions shook the earth.

Kimberly turned the gausshog's mounted M68 gauss cannon and fired. The _bang_ was almost deafening and Jesse had to turn down his sound dampeners. The gauss slug punched a hole clean through one of the wraiths and then it burst into flames. Leslie saw this and followed Kimberly's example. She leveled the cannon and fired. Another wraith went up in smoke and the gausshogs reached the edge of the line of wraiths. Luke got a lock and fired his SPNKR launcher. Another wraith down, still eight to go. Jesse and Dan spun their vehicles around in a power slide and raced towards the wraiths in a pincer maneuver. Kimberly and Leslie punched through three more wraiths as more plasma bombs pelted the ground behind them. Luke emptied his launcher and hurled a grenade as the gausshog sped past. The gausshogs were too close for the wraiths to fire their plasma bombs. The SPARTANS took advantage of the situation to finish them off.

"That was almost too easy." Dan pointed out.

"Yeah. I know the feeling." Jesse agreed.

"Are you saying you'd rather end up dead instead?" Cortana's voice rang in their helmets.

Jesse was about to say something but John cut him off. "Good work Gold Team. Let's try and find a way into the canyon."

"There's an entrance about three miles east of our position." Cortana reported bringing up a geological map of the area for each SPARTAN to see. Their status lights winked green and the marked the area with a nav-beacon. As the warthogs sped off Jesse moved his vehicle closer to the edge of the canyon. He could see the marine's base down bellow and Kimberly pointed out several spots in the earth where the wraiths had bombarded the base.

Nothing moved down bellow. There were no signs of weapons or vehicles, human or Covenant. Jesse was sure that if there had been any Elites there, they would have come out to see what the commotion was about. If there was no one there, then why had the wraiths been stationed to guard the canyon?

"Jess, I don't like this." Kimberly said and kept the gauss cannon aimed down at the canyon floor.

"Yeah. Me neither. Chief?"

"I hear you." The Master Chief acknowledged. "Cortana."

"I'm scanning the canyon floor." She announced and a split second later she spoke again. "I've detected multiple life signs in the canyon, all within that marine base."

"Are they human or Covenant?" John asked.

"I have a confirmation on one. It's definitely human."

"And the others."

"What do you think?"

"All right then." The Master Chief sighed. "SPARTANS, once we enter the canyon, be prepared for combat. We may have a real fight on our hands." Every SPARTAN flashed their status lights.

Down in the canyon Sergeant Michael listened to the explosions up on the canyon wall. The SPARTANS had answered the distress call he'd sent out the previous day. The Elite Special Ops leader walked into his office.

"Our troops have been lost up on the cliff wall." He growled, somewhat angrily.

"Then that's good news for you." Michael said as he reclined in his chair. "That means you can get your man and be gone from this system."

"That was the deal." The Elite nodded.

"Alright then. Places everyone." Michael said with a smile on his face.

The warthogs rolled across the canyon floor. The SPARTANS kept sharp look-outs for anything that moved; nothing did. Around the next bend, they spotted the base. They could see the trails of smoke from the wraiths on the cliffs above. They parked the warthogs and climbed out with their weapons at the ready.

"Blue Team and Gold Team, you're with me." The Master Chief ordered. "Linda, you take charge of Green Team and keep a lookout for any signs of an ambush."

"Yes sir." Linda replied in her cold machine-like tone of voice. It was the tone she used when she was getting serious.

"Sir." Jesse saluted. "I would like to volunteer Gold Four to provide support for Green Team. If any Covenant ships come in, he should be able to down them before they unload their troops sir."

"Granted." John nodded. He turned to Luke who nodded.

Blue Team entered the base first. Jesse, Dan, Kimberly and Leslie followed with their new BR55 battle rifles sweeping the area. The SPARTANS had to squeeze through the half-melted doorway into the base. Inside, the air smelled fowl; like burned flesh.

"Cortana, are you still getting your readings?" John whispered as the SPARTANS stepped cautiously around the broken equipment and plasma-burned bodies.

"I'm picking up movement bellow us." She replied. "Take caution. This is a poor place to have a fire fight with the Covenant."

"Noted." The Chief nodded. The SPARTANS moved to the lower level. It was dark and the SPARTANS turned on their night vision. Kelly took point and Jesse brought up the rear. All at once they heard voices. The SPARTANS crouched down John moved up next to Kelly. His motion sensors indicated five enemies three meters around the corner. He looked back at Jesse who motioned Gold Team forward. Jesse gave a few quick hand signals indicating he wanted Kimberly with him and Leslie with Dan. He counted down _three...two...one... _Gold Team burst into the hallway with battle rifles raised. The Elites turned and raised their plasma rifles. Gold team opened fire. The battle rifles automatically fired in three-round bursts. The first two bullets packed enough punch to overload the Elites shields and the last round was the finishing blow. In a few short bursts, the Elites were down and Jesse motioned Blue Team forward.

"Scanning." Cortana announced. "No Covenant forces detected."

"Chief. I think he's alive." Fred exclaimed as he knelt down to a body the Elites had been standing over. Just then the man groaned. He picked himself up off the floor and staggered to his feet. "Easy there." Fred warned as he helped the man up. Then he noticed the markings on the man's uniform and snapped a quick salute. "Sir! Sergeant sir!" The other SPARTANS except for John saluted as well.

"What's going on? Why am I still alive." Michael groaned and rubbed his head. Jesse took the time to scout out the rest of the base with his team and they disappeared into the shadows.

"We were hoping you could tell us." The Master Chief stepped forward.

"My men and I were ambushed by Covenant Special Ops. They bombarded the base then dropped in shortly after."

"Sir. There doesn't seem to be a lot of Covenant corpses around." Jesse whispered on a private channel. "Only a hand full of Grunts and three Elites. Everyone else is dead."

"Do you know how large the enemy force was?" John asked.

"No sir. Most of my men and I were inside when they attacked. Most of us didn't stand a chance." He clenched his blood-stained fist.

"I'm sorry for your loss." John said plainly. "But we may have more Covenant on the move here soon. I don't think they're going to take the news about their tanks being obliterated too well. We'd better move before they show up with reinforcements. For all we know that could be any minute."

"You have no idea." Sergeant Michael thought to himself. He stuck his hand into one of his pockets and pressed a little device.

"Chief. If you wouldn't mind waiting for just a moment I'm going to go check something." Michael spoke up.

"What is it?" John asked skeptically.

"My computer. I want to make sure that the Covenant weren't tampering with it trying to get any sort of useful information out of it."

"Very well. But let's hurry." John agreed reluctantly. They followed Michael back to his office and to where his laptop was. Michael booted it up and gave it a standard systems check to see what had been viewed recently. Nothing out of the norm.

"That's good. They didn't think to tap into the computer. If they had they would have been able to locate the other UNSC outposts on the planet."

"Or they didn't have to." Cortana pointed out. "The Covenant don't seem to be the type to go around, browsing for the locations of human military bases. They could just as easily glass them as well as the rest of the population from orbit."

"I do suppose you're right." Sergeant Michael nodded.

"John!" Linda's voice called from outside. "We have incoming!"

"Shit!" Fred cursed inside his helmet. "That didn't take long."

"We'll be right there." John called back. The SPARTANS rushed back outside. The others were gathered together and looking down the canyon from the east.

"Uh oh." Dan said darkly. "That doesn't look good."

"Phantoms." Jesse growled. The phantoms were another form of Covenant dropship, except it was used for more direct offensive purposes and was far more armored than the standard U-shaped dropships. They were also capable of carrying more troops into battle. The phantoms had gravity-lifts installed so they could airlift troops into places where the standard dropships couldn't reach. "If that thing opens up on us sir, we're toast."

"Leave it to us!" Kelly piped up. She and Luke reached into their warthogs and lifted their rocket launchers. James and Dan followed their lead and grabbed two more and as many salvos as they could at once. Luke and Kelly knelt down and took aim. Once they had a lock they fired. Three missiles streaked through the air and hit the phantom's plasma turrets. Kelly fired her last SPNKR and it hit the phantom towards the rear. The armored ship jolted as its engine blew out and crashed into the cliff wall.

"More phantoms on approach!" Linda called as she sighted down the canyon through her sniper rifle.

"Our turn." Fred and Dan moved ahead of Luke and Kelly while they reloaded their launchers. They fired another wave of missiles and destroyed the lead ships turrets as well. Two more phantoms appeared behind it. Dan emptied his salvo and blew off one turret. The phantom opened up with the other two and the SPARTANS scattered. The ground where they had been melted away. Luke unloaded another salvo and destroyed the remaining turrets.

"We can't keep this up for long." The Master Chief announced. The disarmed phantoms stopped a couple hundred yards away and began dropping Special Ops Elites onto the battlefield.

"Sir?" Leslie's shrill voice came over the team's COM-channel. Every SPARTAN turned to her. She lowered he sniper rifle and stared off down the canyon in the opposite direction. Five more phantoms could be seen turing around a small bend.

"They're trying to box us in." Fred exclaimed.

"My red ass they will." Jesse snapped and jumped into his gausshog.

"Jesse what do you think you're doing?" The Master Chief demanded.

"Keeping us alive sir!" Jesse moved his warthog over next to Dan and Fred. "Blue Three, would you mind taking the gun?"

Jesse could tell Fred was happy with the invitation. "Gladly sir."

"You know Jesse. That's a good idea." John nodded approvingly. "Blue two, Blue four, Gold Four! Follow me!" James jumped into the gunner's position and Kelly climbed into the passenger's seat. Luke held onto the bed of the warthog as John drove out several yards west of the base. He stopped at the base of a small hill and hopped out. "We'll hold here!" He announced.

"Yes sir!" They all nodded and leveled their weapons at the inbound phantoms before opening up. James took careful aim and fired the gauss cannon. The angle of the shot put the slug through two of one phantom's turrets. Soon the canyon was filled with the humming of Covenant dropships and the explosions from the gauss cannons and SPNKR missiles.

"Make your shots count!" Jesse hollered over the roar of the gauss cannon behind him. He sighted through the scope on his battle rifle and began taking out the oncoming Elites. Linda set up a position behind a rock and began putting holes into the eight-foot aliens. The other SPARTANS broke into groups and gave each gausshog support. Leslie stayed next to Dan and covered him as when he reloaded his launcher. Kimberly climbed to the melted roof of the base and aimed her sniper rifle to the west.

"Sir! What are we going to do about these damned phantoms?" Kelly asked as she dampened her audio receptors. "We sure as hell can't keep disarming them."

The Master Chief emptied his current clip before responding. He looked back at James who had just put another slug through a turret. "Blue Four. Why don't you test that new toy out on the Covenant's armor."

Without a word James adjusted his aim. He fired a slug. The hyper-sonic projectile slammed into the dropship's armor and the phantom jolted to the side. As the phantom began to right itself James fired another slug. This time the phantom's armor gave way and a hole could be seen in the front of the ship. The phantom jerked again and crashed to the ground.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Kelly cheered. "Nice shot James!" James's status light winked on her HUD. He was the quietest of all the SPARTANS, even more than Leslie and Linda.

"Jesse. Use the gauss cannon to take out the dropships. Maybe we can bring them down after all."

Jesse's status light winked his acknowledgment. "You heard the Chief! Let 'em have it!"

The SPARTANS fought on. Between the troops attempting to get to them from the ground, and the dropships in the air, the Covenant were sustaining heavy losses.

"Jesus christ!" Kelly gasped. "How many of these damned things must we shoot down?" The western end of the canyon was littered with over a dozen phantoms with Covenant troops crawling from the wreckage only to be brought down by Kimberly's sniper rifle.

"I have to agree with Blue Two Chief." Jesse called back from the other side of the base. "This seems to be an awful lot of effort being put forth on the Covenant's part."

"What do you expect us to do?" Kimberly said sarcastically. "Ask them to pretty please stop trying to kill us?" Kimberly's motion sensor picked something up. She whirled around and drew her side-arm.

"Whoa! Hey!" Sergeant Michael exclaimed. "I'm not the Covenant okay!"

"Don't ever sneak up on me like that again!" Kimberly snapped and attached her side arm to her thigh holster.

"Trust me I won't." Michael muttered gruffly and turned to the east. "I've got your back covered."

"Um...thanks." Kimberly cocked an eyebrow behind her faceplate and turned her sniper rifle back to the west.

"We'll have to hold this position as long as we can." The Master Chief said sternly. "Someone get on the radio and call for support."

"I'm on it sir!" Will, SPARTAN-043, emptied his assault rifle and disappeared inside the base. Several minutes later he came back out. "Chief. FLEETCOM is sending reinforcements from The Odyssey. They're the closest support to us."

"That'll have to do. We'll just have to make sure we survive until then." John put a few rounds through another Elite before hurling a frag grenade.

"Chief!" Cortana's sudden outburst almost startled him.

"Can this wait Cortana?"

"No!" The AI snapped angrily. "I've just found out that this whole thing was a setup."

"A trap? Are you sure?"

"Okay then, let me spell it out for you. How do you explain how the Covenant showed up so fast after our arrival? How come they keep sending in wave after wave of troops in even though we keep blowing them out of the sky? They were waiting for us!"

"But how?"

Cortana's attitude seemed to darken. "We have a traitor among us."

"A traitor? Are you sure? Who would betray us?"

"It was Sergeant Michael. Who else?"

"The Sergeant? How do you know?"

"I've just spent the last several minutes hacking into his wireless connection on his laptop inside the base and going through the videos from the security cameras around the base. I have to say he isn't very good about hiding evidence."

"Okay, so what did you find out?"

"Fall back and I'll show you." Cortana seemed to settle down now that she had his attention. John took cover behind the gausshog and Cortana displayed the video feed for him. "He's been working with the Covenant to lure us into this canyon so they can try and capture one of us. Apparently the Covenant are looking for a certain SPARTAN but they aren't sure which one of us is the one they're looking for. My guess is that it's you Chief."

"Well how did Michael contact the Covenant? We were with him the whole time."

"When you first started talking to him I suspected he may not have been telling the whole truth about the attack. My superstitions were confirmed when I detected an energy signal emanate from him and the phantoms began showing up shortly after."

Sergeant Michael stopped to reload his weapon. He had been firing pretty half-assed but the SPARTAN behind him didn't seem to notice. "How are things looking over there?" He called back over his shoulder.

"We're holding them." Kimberly replied without looking back.

Michael frowned. At this rate, the SPARTANS would finish off the Covenant and then the plan would be ruined. He stared at Kelly a moment then drew his combat knife. Maybe the Elites would reward him if he could take out one of the SPARTANS for them.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" John hissed and got to his feet. "Has anyone seen Sergeant Michael?"

"He's with me sir." Kimberly replied without moving from her scope.

"Kimberly, you need to get away from him right now!" The Master Chief ordered fiercely.

"Sir?" Kimberly looked down at him from the roof of the base.

"The Sergeant is the enemy! He's betrayed us!"

"Betrayed?" Kimberly didn't have time to think about what her CO had said because a blade slashed against her armor. The shields were the only thing that protected her from the sergeant's attempted assassination. Kimberly dropped her sniper rife and looked herself over, half expecting to see a breech in her armor. Then she looked hard at Michael. "So it's true. You are a traitor."

"I'm not a traitor!" Michael snarled. "I'm a marine doing his duty."

"By turning against his own team? I doubt that."

"The Covenant has promised to call off the attack and leave this system once they get what they came for. I'm doing what's best for the human race." He lunged for her with his knife again. Kimberly side-stepped him and struck his forearm with he gauntlet. He cried out in pain as his bone shattered.

"What are you talking about? What do they want? How does trapping us help them?"

"They want one of you. A SPARTAN. They seemed pretty adamant about it. And as you can tell, they want you pretty bad." Kimberly clenched her fists tight. Michael grabbed his side-arm and aimed it at Kimberly.

"Sergeant! Stand down!" Kimberly and Michael turned to see Jesse with his battle rifle raised. "Get away from her! Right now!"

Michael just laughed. "What difference would it make if you shot me or not? The Covenant are going to get what they want. And when they do, I'll be seen as a hero to this system." In the blink of an eye, Kimberly stepped in and struck Michael in the chest with a palm-strike. His chest wall caved in and he flew off the roof of the base and hit the ground in a heap.

"Thanks for the distraction." Kimberly gave Jesse a thumbs up.

"For you, anything." Jesse _smiled_.

By now the Covenant realized that they needed to move their drop ships closer to the base in order to get at the SPARTANS.

"Chief, I've tapped into the Covenant Battle Net." Cortana reported. "They're going to try and move their ships in closer. You should expect to see some close combat soon."

"That's just too bad for them." Dan scoffed.

The phantoms began moving in. Turrets fell to the ground just seconds before the entire craft.

"I'm dry!" Luke shouted. He dropped his empty rocket launcher and leveled his battle rifle.

"Blue Two! Do you have any more rockets left?" John asked.

"On my last salvo sir."

"Save it! We may need it. Gold Lead how are you on SPNKR ammunition?"

"Got two more salvos each sir. Need some assistance?"

"That would be appreciated." Jesse grabbed Dan's remaining salvo and sprinted over to the Master Chief. "Don't spend them all in one place sir."

"Under any other circumstances, I'd say you were no fun." John winked his status light.

Jesse turned back to his group on the other side of the canyon. As he sprinted past the base something caught the his attention. He looked up and cursed angrily. "Incoming phantom!" The dropship loomed over the cliffs like a great beast with plasma turrets aimed straight down.

"I've got it!" Dan called. He whirled around and emptied his salvo and destroyed two of the turrets. The last turret took aim towards him and he ducked out of the way as three plasma spikes hit the ground behind him. The turret turned towards a new target.

"Kim!" Jesse rushed up to the base. The turret fired. Jesse's heart nearly stopped. Then Kimberly leaped off the roof. Jesse held his arms out to catch her, but being encased in a half-ton of armor, catching her was no easy task. She landed in his arms and the two fell into a tangled mess on the ground. The phantom moved forward and fired again. Jesse wrapped his arms around Kimberly and rolled into the base and out of the line of plasma fire. The sound of the gauss cannon was heard then another turret landed just outside the entrance of the base.

"Nice catch." KImberly said sarcastically. "Thanks." Jesse just gave her a big _smile_.

"John, the Covenant are dropping in behind us!" Linda called. She turned her attention to the phantom overhead. It began using its gravity-lift to lower the Elites onto the battle field. She squeezed off a full magazine with her sniper rifle and four Elites reached the ground already dead.

"Don't worry! I've got us covered!" Jesse shouted. He and Kimberly charged out of the base and fired their battle rifles. The remaining Elites went down. The phantom pulled away and another one took its place. Jesse and Kimberly ran up to the corpses and grabbed whatever ammunition they could: a few plasma rifles, and several plasma grenades. As the phantom lowered Jesse armed a plasma grenade. Kimberly followed his lead and they threw them at the phantom's turrets. They made contact and the turrets fell to the ground. The gauss cannon destroyed the last turret.

"Keep that thing focused down the canyon!" Jesse ordered. "We can handle these guys for now."

"Yes sir." Fred was noticeably hesitant in his answer.

The following phantom moved directly over Jesse and Kimberly.

"Aw shit!" Kimberly cursed.

"Stand by to engage for close range combat." Jesse told her. Kimberly aimed her sniper rifle up at the opening in the bottom of the phantom. The first Elite appeared and she fired. Three more Elites came down and were shot dead immediately. The remaining Elites were shot down by Jesse and the phantom had to withdraw.

Almost instantly a third phantom appeared. Jesse and Kimberly hit it with another barrage of grenades and disarmed the turrets. Again Kimberly crouched down beside Jesse and aimed with her sniper rifle. The first Elite appeared and hurled a plasma grenade down. It stuck to the barrel of her sniper rifle and Jesse's eyes grew wide.

"Ditch it!" He shouted. Kimberly hurled the sniper rifle like a spear back up at the Elite. The alien snarled in surprise and was engulfed in the explosion. "That was too close." Jesse breathed a sigh of relief.

"Those bastards are going to pay for that." Kimberly snapped. She drew her battle rifle and opened fire on the next Elite.

Up on the cliffs Field Commander Riobonne watched as wave after wave of his men went in. The human Sergeant was dead and no longer able to provide intel on the demons known as SPARTANS. So far they were having terrible luck at locating the individual demon. They all looked alike except for the five in red and yellow armor. He made sure he kept a close eye on them.

"Sir. Our phantoms are having no luck getting close to the demons sir." Emossa, the white special ops Elite, reported.

"I know." Riobonne nodded grimly. "But I believe we are close to finding out which of the demons the First Prince is searching for." Emossa followed his gaze to the eastern side of the human's base. "That one there on the right side of that vehicle looks like he's the leader. The others seem to follow on his command." He pointed a long finger at the Master Chief. "I want you to order our cruiser that's in low orbit to launch its pods."

"Yes sir." Emossa nodded with a toothy grin.

"They're falling back Chief!" James reported.

"It's not like the Covenant to give up." Cortana reminded them.

"You don't think they're getting ready to glass the planet do you?" Kelly asked.

"With their own troops on the ground?" Luke pointed out. "I would doubt it."

"Blue Two, you and Gold Four come with me. We're going to go and see if we can't clear a path out of this canyon." John shouldered his assault rifle and climbed into the gausshog's driver's seat. Luke took the gunner position and Kelly took the passenger seat. The tires spun and the warthog took off. The Elites were falling back towards the pile of downed phantoms and were attempting to take cover among them.

Luke opened up with the gauss cannon and more explosions erupted from inside the phantoms. The ships burst into flames and crushed several of the Elites.

"Chief! Incoming pods!" Cortana shouted suddenly.

John looked up to see seven spikes fall from the sky and slam into the ground. One impaled the earth directly in the path of the gausshog. The warthog slammed into the pod, crushing the Elite inside and sending the three SPARTANS flying through the air. John and Kelly went through the windshield and Luke went through the cannon like it was paper. The three of them hit the ground hard and didn't move.

"Where the hell did these things come from?" Jesse snapped as Elites burst out of the Covenant drop pods.

"Who cares! Kill them!" Kimberly shouted and showered them with bullets. Jesse put away his battle rifle and drew his SMG's. He sprayed two Elites and brought them down. A third Elite lunged for Jesse with an energy sword. Jesse side-stepped and spun around. As the Elite turned to face him Jesse emptied one clip into the Elite's face. The alien dropped dead and Jesse turned to the other oncoming troops. He emptied his other gun and another Elite hit the dirt. Jesse reloaded but two Elites bared down on him. They swung their energy swords simultaneously and Jesse ducked onto his back. He sprayed their heads from bellow and they dropped. Kimberly was being backed up to the base as she continued to fire her battle rifle. Each time she reloaded, the Elites would move in closer.

"Oh no you don't!" Jesse snarled. He rushed them from the side and thrust his leg out at the nearest Elite. The kick broke the Elite's leg and it dropped to one knee with an agonized howl. Jesse silenced it when he snapped a kick to the back of its head. The other Elites turned with vicious snarls and Jesse doused them with bullets. Their shields flared then died. Kimberly loaded a new magazine into her gun and took aim at the backs of their heads.

Riobonne watched as the Elites to the east moved in on the humans who had been knocked from their vehicle. They weren't moving which would make their capture, if necessary, much easier. He turned to look at the other demons blasting away at the other drop jump Elites on the battlefield. The ones to the west had blown through the ones that had landed close by to them with no casualties. His gaze moved to the two closer to the base. One of the demons in red was backed up against the wall and had just reloaded his weapon when the other red demon showered his Elites with from his metal-projectile launching weapons. He saw his Elites' shields flare, then fail. He didn't want to watch his men die like this. Without their shields they were relatively unprotected against the projectile weapons the humans used. Four of the six remaining Elites went down with quick bursts from the primitive weapon. The other red demon placed its weapons on its legs and attacked with its own two hands. It snapped a kick and spun the head around of the first Elite so it faced backwards for a moment before collapsing. The second Elite thrust its energy sword forward and Riobonne thought that the plasma blade would make contact. But the demon dodged the attack and grabbed the Elite's arm. He twisted the Elites arm in such a way that the energy sword cut back into the Elite soldier. The Elite stood in shock as blood poured from its mouth. The red demon knocked the Elite onto its back then raised its foot high before crushing in the Elite's neck. Riobonne's eyes grew wide.

"This is Field Commander Riobonne! To all Special Ops Elites, on the battle field! Leave the other demons and focus your efforts on the large red one to the north west!" Down in the canyon, every Elite's head turned to lock onto the seven-and-a-half-foot tall SPARTAN. "We have found what we came for!"

"Gold Lead come in!" Cortana's voice hollered.

"What is it Cortana?" Jesse asked as he wiped the Elite's blood off his boot in the dirt.

"The Chief is down! As is Blue Two and Gold Four! We need immediate extraction!"

"Understood!" Jesse nodded and rushed over to one of the warthogs; he left the gausshog to defend the canyon's west entrance.

"Wait for me!" Kimberly called.

"No! You wait here!" Jesse ordered. "We won't have much room as it is to pick up John and the others."

"But..."

"That's an order Kimberly!" Jesse said more forcefully. "I'm gunna be vulnerable out there so I'm gunna need you to hang back at a distance and provide me with covering fire."

Kimberly sighed. "Yes sir." Jesse could tell she was disappointed but he didn't have time to console her. He put the pedal to the metal and the warthog sped off. He raced past the SPARTANS who were making their way towards the damaged gauss hog. They were firing to keep the Elites away from their CO and fellow SPARTANS.

"Cover me!" Jesse called over the COM-channel as he sped by. Their status lights winked and Jesse felt his heart settle down. As long as he could rely on them for some support he should have a much easier time extracting John, Cortana, Kelly and Luke.

As he neared the drop pod landing site he felt something hit the warthog. The force rattled the jeep and Jesse struggled to keep control of the wheel. Jesse was about to look back and see what had thrown him off when he looked into the face of an Elite hanging onto the driver's side of the warthog. It had been shrouded in its active camouflage but had deactivated it to reveal its white armor and ugly mandibles protruding from its face. The mandibles opened up into an angry roar.

"Holy shit!" Jesse reached down to grab his SMG. Before he could raise his gun Emossa grabbed his arm and helmet and pulled. The warthog tilted on its wheels and tipped over. The Elite and SPARTAN rolled over each other and the warthog rolled over on its back before coming to a stop. A split second later the jeep exploded and Jesse felt shrapnel bounce off his shields which now dropped to half strength. He staggered to his feet and tried to shake off the dizziness that overwhelmed him. He could see the Elite several meters away. It stood up and glared directly at him. It's right arm was broken and hung loose at its side. Jesse watched as the Elite slowly reached for its plasma rifle. Jesse's vision was clearing but not fast enough to his liking. The Elite drew its rifle and Jesse dropped to his back. In one swift motion he had his battle rifle drawn. Plasma bolts whizzed over his head and he squeezed the trigger three times. The Elite dropped to the ground and Jesse got to his feet. He mounted his rifle to his back again and grabbed his remaining SMG. He had lost the other one after being yanked out of the warthog and he picked up the Elite's plasma rifle. It felt strange wielding a Covenant weapon along with one he was used to. He would have to get over it.

Just then plasma bolts pelted his shields. Jesse tucked and rolled out of the way. He turned and fired at the three black-armored Elites charging his way. His plasma rifle overloaded the leader's shields and he finished him with bullets from his SMG. The second followed the same fate. Jesse's machine gun was dry now. He dropped his last SMG and threw a hard hook with the plasma rifle, using it like a brass knuckle on the last Elite. The plasma rifle cracked and so did the Elite's skull. Jesse threw the damaged weapon away and grabbed two more plasma rifles.

More Elites were rushing to engage him. He was outnumbered, but that was nothing new to him. He'd been outnumbered many times before. Jesse showered them with plasma bolts, wounding some and causing shields to flare up. Just then his rifles overheated and he dropped them as the exhaust vents opened up and released super-hot vapor. He shouldered his battle rifle and put down the next wave of Elites before picking up more plasma rifles. Now he knew not to overheat them.

"Gold Lead! Get out of there!" Cortana shouted frantically. "They're after you!"

Jesse looked around. He was completely surrounded. He could hear the sounds of automatic weapons fire in the distance and knew his team was trying to help him out. "No shit, they're after me." Jesse muttered. The Elites moved in and Jesse turned in a full circle, pulsing his plasma rifles as he rotated. Shields flared and failed. When he was back to his starting point Jesse flexed his back leg. In a lightning fast motion he spun around with a tornado kick and caught several of the Elites in the head. Their fellow Elites roared and rushed in. One grabbed Jesse's arm and he snapped its wrist in half. Another grabbed his helmet; another arm torn off. More were closing in. Jesse whipped around with the back of his fist then a hook across two more Elites. The cracking of their skulls sounded like music to him. He turned and thrust a kick into the knee of another Elite and dropped it with a hammer-fist to its skull. Suddenly the area around him seemed extremely closed in.

"Gold Lead watch out!" Cortana's voice hollered over the team's COM-channel. "I've just received word from the Covenant Battle Net that they've deployed Elite Honor Guards!"

"What the hell are Elite Honor Guards?" Jesse demanded. He was trying his best to remain calm. Kimberly and Dan had always known that Jesse worked best when under extreme pressure.

"Normally they're the protectors for the Covenant's religious leaders. But they seem to have brought some along for the party." No sooner had Cortana finished her explanation than an Elite with brilliantly luminous armor pushed through the special ops Elites. Jesse wasn't sure how it could see from under its helmet which looked like a sort of crown. He didn't care. Elites were nothing more than moving punching bags for him.

The Elite attacked with its spear and Jesse ducked. The Elite swung again and Jesse rushed in close. He broke the Elite's elbows and the spear fell to the ground. Jesse threw the honor guard into three other Elites and snatched up the spear. Another honor guard moved in to try and impale the SPARTAN. Jesse twisted out of the way and plunged his spear into the Elite's throat before jamming another in the face with the butt of the spear. More special ops moved in and Jesse swung the spear around to clear some room. Three Elites were left with slashes across their faces and the others ducked out of the way just in time.

"Hang in there Gold Lead! We're on our way!" Kimberly shouted. She and several other SPARTANS were sprinting across the canyon floor, firing their assault weapons to try and break up the ever-growing swarm of Elites surrounding the lone SPARTAN. They could hear the sounds of cries coming from the wounded Elites and could see an occasional body fly through the air as Jesse threw them off of him. Kimberly hurled two grenades ahead of them and two explosions cleared a path through the Elites. As the Elites rushed to close in the gap, Kimberly could see Jesse fighting with everything he had. He punched and kicked his way through the Elite forces surrounding him. She almost couldn't believe he was still alive.

Just then an honor guard came in from behind. Jesse spotted it and plunged the spear he'd picked up into the Elite's stomach. The honor guard bellowed in pain and continued charging forward. It tapped Jesse's chest armor with its spear and bolts of electricity erupted from the tip of its spear.

Jesse gave a quick jerk then crumbled to the ground. The Elite dropped to its knees and fell dead beside him. The special ops Elites grabbed the SPARTAN and began retreating towards the east entrance to the canyon.

"Stop them! Don't let them escape!" Kimberly shouted. The SPARTANS pushed themselves to run faster. The Elites had a lead on them of over two hundred yards. The Elites in the back fell dead but the ones carrying their teammate were in the front. The Elites at the rear turned and fired their plasma rifles. The SPARTANS spread out to present smaller targets for them and returned fire. Kimberly looked up as a phantom flew overhead. "Shit!" She hissed and pushed herself even harder. She was gaining on the Covenant troops but not fast enough. The phantom lowered to the ground as it slowed down. A hatch opened in the rear and more Elites could be seen inside. They reached out to their comrades who clumsily handed up the unconscious SPARTAN. Four Elites fell dead on the ship's deck. Linda reloaded her sniper rifle and downed four more Elites in a flash. The remaining troops that were on the ground scrambled aboard and the hatch shut.

"No!" Kimberly screamed and fired her battle rifle at the ship. The bullets bounced off the thick armor and the dropship lifted into the sky and seconds later, disappeared from sight. "No!" Kimberly shouted furiously and fired into the distance. The canyon was suddenly silent except for the fire of her battle rifle. "No! No! No!" She pulled the trigger until the clip was empty. She fell to her knees and reached out as if trying to grab the ship back. Kimberly shook her head and slammed her fists into the earth.

"Kim!" Will called as he ran up and knelt beside her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No." Kimberly whimpered. There was a crack in her voice that made it seem like she was about to cry. But she couldn't. She could never let herself cry. SPARTANS didn't cry.

**2200 Hours, September 11, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, UNSC Destroyer The Iron Eagle, orbit over Planet Draco III**

"Chief." Cortana's voice whispered in John's ear. "Chief, wake up. Nap time is over."

John opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was in the sickbay of a UNSC ship. His armor hung suspended on a raised platform between two pillars. It took him a minute to realize he wasn't dreaming and he sat straight up. He was rewarded with a stabbing pain in his side. He groaned and clutched at his ribs.

"Take it easy Chief." Cortana cautioned. "You've bruised you ribs and some of your internal organs. I would suggest toning down your amount of exercise for a while."

"Cortana, what's going on?"

Cortana's image turned to a dark blue. "It's bad Chief. Really bad." She shook her head sadly. "The Covenant were after a SPARTAN all right. But it wasn't you they were after."

"What? Then who was it?" John's heart rate was increasing.

"Gold Lead." Cortana replied. "They ambushed him on his way out to retrieve you after your crash and they overwhelmed him."

"Do you know what they wanted with him?"

"I don't know the details." Cortana shook her head. "From what I picked up from the Covenant Battle Net, their objective was to find the demon murderer and bring him to the First Prince at a Covenant Holy City."

"That doesn't make any sense." John slowly stood up. "What about the others?"

"They're all fine. Alive anyways. Kelly suffered some bruised and cracked ribs as well during the crash. Luke's injuries are a bit more serious. He had severe internal bleeding earlier which we managed to stop. But several of his ribs are broken and his chest wall was severely damaged from flying through the gauss cannon."

"I see." John nodded grimly. "What's going on with the others?"

"Fred, Linda and the rest of Gold Team are being debriefed by the Captain."

"Captain Ross?"

"I'm sorry Chief. But Captain Ross is dead. As soon as the Covenant picked up SPARTAN-029, they bugged out of the system. But not without taking several of our ships out. The Odyssey was one of the first to go."

John made a silent acknowledgment of the death of Captain Ross and the hundreds of crew members onboard his ship. He donned his MJOLNIR armor and almost instantly felt better.

"I'm going to find the other SPARTANS. Where's the Captain interrogating them?"

"In his office." Cortana replied darkly. "You'd better hurry though. The last time I checked, tempers were rising."

"Understood." John nodded and hurried down the hall as fast as he could.

"I don't care if he was a teammate." Captain Simon scowled at the armored soldiers from behind his glasses. "I am not jeopardizing my ship and men just so you can go on a rescue mission."

"But sir!" Fred protested. "The Covenant have possession of one of the most technologically advanced weapons of the human race. Who knows what they're planning to do with him. The Cole Protocol states..."

"No vessel may inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth. I know the drill soldier so do not try and tell me otherwise. And the Cole Protocol refers to keeping the Covenant from finding humanity's home world. Not keeping captured soldiers from the Covenant. If the Covenant have left the system after capturing one soldier then we can consider ourselves lucky and prepare our forces should they return."

"That's bullshit!" Kimberly shouted and slammed her fist on his desk, crushing in the metal table. "That so-called soldier is a SPARTAN and has saved countless lives! We at least owe it him to try and rescue him or at least stop the Covenant from discovering our secret weapon technology!"

"You will stand down immediately soldier or I will have you court-martialed!"

"You and what army?" Kimberly snarled. "You can't even beat the Covenant so what makes you think in your right mind that you can bring me down?" Kimberly took a step towards the Captain who shrank back a little.

"You're both way out of line!" Every head turned to see John enter the room. John saluted the Captain out of respect and looked hard at Kimberly. "SPARTAN-049, you are dismissed!"

"But sir!"

"Dismissed!" John raised his voice. Kimberly's shoulders slumped and she saluted before exiting the room. John waited until she was gone before turning to the Captain.

"Good to see you're up and about Master Chief." The Captain sighed and stood up.

"With all due respect sir. My teammates are right about going after the Covenant. We can not allow them to discover what the human race has been working on for these past several years. ONI has declared that any SPARTAN that is captured by Covenant forces must be hunted down and retrieved or destroyed so as not to allow the Covenant access to our military secrets."

"If that were the case Master Chief, then I would be inclined to agree. But the Covenant are imitative not innovative. And even if they were, there would be hardly a chance that they would go near human technology. Elites would rather die than touch any human weapon no matter how powerful it might be."

"You seem to forget Captain." Cortana spoke up from John's helmet. "That the Covenant were aiming to capture SPARTAN-029. So your theory about the Covenant being completely disinterested in human technology is void for the time being. So therefore we need to begin planning a rescue operation or find a way to activate SPARTAN-029's self-destruct mechanism in his suit to keep the Covenant from learning about the MJOLNIR armor system."

"I don't feel the need to take orders from an AI." The Captain spat.

"Now listen up you ignorant..."

"That's enough, both of you!" John snapped. Cortana stopped. "Sir, you would be smart not to go against ONI's high officers. We have a mission to complete so I would appreciate your assistance. Should you so provide it."

The Captain remained silent and watched as the SPARTANS filed out of the room.

Kimberly pulled the trigger of her battle rifle three times. She had moved to the ship's firing range. The target was fifty yards away but with her enhanced eye sight it seemed more like ten feet. She emptied her clip and reloaded. She aimed for the target of the Covenant Elite and had put countless holes through its head.

She had been at the firing range for a couple hours and had put away a great number of targets. The feelings that had built up inside of her reminded her of when she was a little girl; during the early years of her training. She felt afraid and lost; like the time when Jesse had 'died' during training. The scene from the canyon played over in her mind again and again. She had been so helpless. Helpless to help her team leader. Her friend. The one person in the universe she cared for most of all. Her grip on her rifle tightened and she unloaded another magazine into the target.

As she waited for the target to be changed the, range was filled with the clatter of combat boots. Kimberly paid the soldiers no attention as she reloaded her weapon.

"Hey you!" An angry voice shouted. Kimberly lowered her rifle and straightened up and looked at the soldiers who were standing a few feet away from her. "You're one of them SPARTANS from Gold Team aren't you?" A man with a closely shaved scalp stepped forward and gave Kimberly a killer glare.

Kimberly looked him over. He was a corporal; bellow her rank . She nodded, seeing no particular reason to salute the man surrounded by over a dozen of his buddies.

"Were you the one who killed Sergeant Michael in the canyon today?" Kimberly nodded again and the man's face turned to pure evil. "Who gave you the order to take his life?"

"No one." Kimberly muttered darkly, remembering how the traitor had aided their enemies in capturing Gold Team's leader.

"So you took his life in cold blood. For no reason!"

"He was a traitor to humanity. And he attempted to take my life as well. I was fighting back in order to protect my teammates."

"Traitor? How dare you call my brother a traitor!" The Corporal snarled. "My brother has battled those Covenant bastards for years and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. And you have the nerve to call him a traitor? You SPARTANS have a lot of nerve! You're all just a bunch of freaks to humanity!"

Kimberly could see that he was trying to get her to lose her cool. Kimberly gave a half-snort and turned back to her target. ODST's such as these were nothing but a nuisance to a SPARTAN but she found it fairly easy to ignore them. The Corporal began shouting again as she started to fire her battle rifle but Kimberly simply turned off her audio receptors.

The Corporal had had enough. He drew his side arm and fired three rounds. Kimberly had kept an eye on him and dodged the shots. She rolled close to the man and jabbed the butt of her rifle into his knee, shattering it. The Corporal cried out in pain and dropped to the floor. The other ODST's started to move in but Kimberly raised her battle rifle to the head of the closest soldier.

"You wouldn't dare!" The man snapped.

Kimberly cycled the bolt of her rifle and took aim at the man's forehead.

"Stand down ODST's!" Everyone looked back to the door to see the Master Chief standing there with his assault rifle raised. "You men know the consequence for attacking or attempting to kill a fellow soldier!"

"You SPARTANS call us on attacking a fellow soldier. Yet you don't hesitate to kill a fellow soldier when the opportunity arrives." The injured Corporal groaned from down on the floor.

"Get out! Right now!" John bellowed. "You will be hearing from your superiors." The ODST's gathered up the Corporal and left the firing range. John turned back to Kimberly. She stood up and shouldered her rifle. "Are you okay?"

"Sir!" Kimberly stood upright. "Chief! I would like to apologize for my behavior sir!"

"You were definitely out of line." John nodded. "But the lecturing will have to wait for now."

"Sir?"

"Listen. We've known each other for most our lives and we've always done well together. But when one of us is gone we can not afford to go awol. We have to stick together! As a team! As a family! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" Kimberly saluted.

John sighed and his shoulders slumped. "You and Jesse have been on the same team since day one of training. I know how you two feel about each other. I've known for a long time." Kimberly remained silent. "I brought it to CPO Mendez's attention before. I was concerned about how you two would operate as a team, but Mendez revealed that he had noticed this behavior as well. He told me that the reason he let it slide was because you two put your teammates before yourselves; like real SPARTANS should. Jesse was willing to protect you and the others and therefore pushed himself to be the best soldier he could be. You wanted to be by his side ever since he came back from his augmentation operation. As much as I disagreed with Mendez at the time I trusted his decision. Don't make me regret going along with it."

"Yes sir." Kimberly nodded. She was a bit embarrassed finding out that John knew about her and Jesse. Then she settled down. "Thank you John. I appreciate it. I won't make you regret it."

"I know." John placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Come on. We've got work to do."

"I don't understand sir."

"I've made a report to Dr. Halsey. She and Cortana are speaking to each other at this very moment. We need to get back to them so we can come up with a plan."

"Plan sir?"

"We're going to go on a rescue mission."

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Carrier, Gods Crest**

Larranus raced through the Covenant Carrier. He had been informed of Field Commander Riobonne's accomplishment in capturing the demon on the humans colonized planet. Now he raced towards the bridge as the Field Commander's vessel was coming in with his prize. Grunts and Jackals dove to the side to keep from being trampled by the speeding Elite. Larranus burst through an open door and nearly crashed into a pair of hunters, the Covenant's armored behemoths that were used for heavy destruction. The Elite swerved around them and skidded to a halt several minutes later at the ship's bridge. He was greeted by the crew but he paid them little attention. He scanned the monitors and spotted a cruiser coming in from slip space followed by several other Covenant freighters. The silver metal of the ships bodies looked almost elegant.

The Cruiser slowed its approach and came to a stop. A hologram appeared beside the Command seat and Larranus moved closer to it. Riobonne bowed deeply.

"My Prince. I am pleased to say that we have captured your brother's murderer."

Larranus raised a hand to silence the Zealot. "Come now friend. No need to get so anxious as to report to me from ship to ship. You would not have shown yourself had you not achieved your mission."

"Yes your excellency." Riobonne bowed again.

"Now that our prize has been collected we can now take paces towards executing our revenge on him as well as the rest of the human race. Have your fleet follow me and we shall rendezvous with the mobile command-platform Destroyer's Invocation. We will carry out our operations there."

"As you wish Excellency." Riobonne bowed once again and his hologram disappeared. The Covenant fleet jumped into slipspace and less than an hour later exited into normal space. The mobile space station was enormous. There were almost fifty Covenant ships surrounding the station with plenty of space for a thousand more.

Larranus ordered the Gods Crest in to dock and the other vessels of the fleet to follow. Once they were in close enough the ships activated their gravity lifts to transport their troops and supplies back and forth. Larranus dropped down to the decks via his ship's gravity lift and waited for Riobonne to meet him. Much to to the Second Prince's surprise, the Field Commander was already waiting for him.

"Your Excellency!" Riobonne knelt down and bowed his head.

"Rise friend." Larranus nodded. His armor seemed to glimmer with his increasingly high spirits. "I am eager to hear. How well did your mission go?"

Riobonne was obviously a bit taken back by the question and averted his gaze for a moment. "I lost many of my men during the operation. But they were able to positively identify their target. Though not easily done or acquired for that matter. The demon managed to assassinate many of your fellow Honor Guards."

"They knew their duty and carried it out to its fullest." Larranus replied showing very little sign of remorse. "They shall be honored as well as all of your Elites who were murdered in cold blood by this demon." The humming of a phantom grabbed the prince's attention. "Is that it?"

"Yes Excellency." Riobonne nodded. "The demon is being brought in under black ops guard."

"Very good. Let us go and see."

As Larranus led the way to the landing platform a voice broke out on Riobonne's helmet.

"Sir! Where would his Excellency the Second Prince like us to deliver his..." The voice cut out. "Sir! We have a situation!"

"What is it?" Riobonne demanded and the prince stopped.

"The demon has woken up! There's a real mess going on back there!"

The prince looked up to see the phantom veer off course a bit in the air.

"Land your ship and do your best to subdue the demon!" Riobonne ordered. "We need him alive!"

"Yes sir." The Elite stammered.

Riobonne turned to a group of passing Jackals. "Get to that dock and see if you can help in any way needed!"

The Jackals nodded and sprinted off. Riobonne and Larranus watched as the phantom came in and landed on the dock. The rear hatch opened up and three Elites flew out and landed hard on the metal platform. The demon in red armor sprang forth and grabbed two of the Jackals. He slammed them into the others and turned back to the Elites struggling to get to their feet. The black armored Elites lunged for the human only to get struck and put down. More Covenant troops rushed to the platform to try and overpower the demon only to meet their own demise.

"I apologize your Excellency." Riobonne bowed. "I shall be right back." Riobonne's optical camouflage turned on and he disappeared from view.

Down on the platform the SPARTAN fought with everything he had. He had gotten an unpleasant wake-up onboard the Covenant phantom and was trying to push his way through the aliens who seemed bent on taking him prisoner. Jesse punched through a Jackal and sent the body bouncing across the deck. He heard a roar from behind and turned to face the remaining Elites from inside the phantom. They were bloody and had suffered severe injuries yet had managed to force themselves to stand. Jesse grabbed a pair of plasma rifles and leveled them at the wounded Elites. Suddenly he was struck from behind. He heard his shield monitor beep a warning then everything went black.

Riobonne turned off his camouflage and turned to a squad of Elite Minors. "Take this one to the detention sector. And by no means are you to harm this one. The Second Prince forbids it." He glanced up at Larranus who was watching several yards away. The rookies took one look at the Honor Guard and bowed. With a little effort they hefted the SPARTAN off the landing pad and deep into the command station.

Jesse opened his eyes. His head throbbed and his body ached. The last thing he remembered was waking up inside a Covenant dropship and breaking his way out. He groaned and picked himself up off the floor. He was completely lost and confused. The Covenant were bent on destroying the human race so why had they decided to capture him; and alive of all things. He had thought he was dead back on Draco III and the Covenant could have easily done away with him when he had broken out of the dropship. He didn't know what they were up to and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

"Ah ha! The demon is awake!" And gruff voice grabbed his attention. Jesse looked at a force field at the end of his cell; and the Elites staring at him from the other side. Jesse rose to his feet and looked directly at them. The three Elite Minors sneered at him through their mandibles as Jesse walked directly up to the energy barrier. Had the force field not been there he would have been mere inches from the genocidal aliens.

"I fail to see what all the fuss is about these demons." One of the rookies snickered.

"I would be happy to explain it to you if would let down this shield." Jesse snarled.

"Hah!" The Elite snorted. "Perhaps you do not realize the gravity of your situation demon. Your fleets have been eradicated. You soldiers have betrayed you. Your teammates have either been killed or left to die. And you are trapped within a Covenant Holy Ship surrounded by billions of our soldiers with no way out. I would not be so cocky if I were you."

If Jesse didn't have his helmet on he would have spat at the alien. "You Covenant must have a real death wish if you've gone through all the trouble of bringing me here."

"So arrogant you humans are. You have not been able to achieve anything more than a moral victory against us so far."

"Need I remind you that I've put down more than my fair share of you Elites and your little Jackal and Grunt underlings. And I must say. Killing Grunts and Jackals gets boring after a while. It's killing you split-faced losers that makes being a soldier all the more satisfying and worthwhile."

The Elites smirks disappeared. "How dare you demon!" One bellowed. "If it weren't for our Prince's orders we would drop this shield and kill you ourselves!"

Jesse smiled behind his faceplate. "I don't think you morons would have the guts to take me on. Even if you didn't have your so-called prince giving you orders. He's probably even more of a weakling than you rookies."

The Elite roared and slammed a fist against the shield. The SPARTAN didn't even so much as flinch.

"I will see to it demon that the Prince executes you in the most shameful and painful way possible!"

"All I'm hearing is talk from you split-face. I'd much rather see some action for once rather than explanations of how you intend to do away with me."

The Elites had heard enough. They moved away from the cell and back to a control station in the middle of the room. Jesse watched them passively. If what they said about their prince wanting him alive, then he was safe for the time being. His only question was: How long would he still be alive? The Elites pressed several buttons on the holographic panel. There was a slight humming and the force field changed from a blue to a deep red. Jesse reached out to touch the force field. He came within an inch of the barrier and suddenly electricity surged through his body. He hollered in pain and was sent flying into the back wall. He left a dent in the wall and crumbled to the floor. Outside the Elites laughed.

"Hah! That should keep that arrogant human's mouth shut for a while."

Jesse wanted to say something but all the energy had been drained from him. His shields were down once again and the last thing he heard was the shield monitor beeping a warning which then faded with his vision.

A long time passed and the SPARTAN showed no signs of movement. The Elite guards were starting to grow nervous.

"Do you think perhaps we over did it on overcharging the restriction barrier?" One of the rookies asked.

"No. From what I hear, these demons are quite resilient. A pulse at that level would only knock them out for a short while. It wasn't enough to kill him."

"Are you sure. Humans are fragile to begin with. This demon may be able to sustain a bit more but I'm sure even they can be brought down over time."

"I agree." The first Elite nodded. "It's been well over a cycle since we knocked him out. If it turns out we ended up killing him, the Prince will have our heads."

"I see your point. Then let's check on him. I'm going to lower the shield for just a moment." Two of the Elites moved over to the detention cell and waited for the shield to lower. Once it was gone they stepped inside with their plasma rifles at the ready. The SPARTAN lay still on the floor where he'd hit. The Elites looked down at the red SPARTAN and looked at each other.

"Well. Go ahead."

"What? Why should I be the one to check?"

"Because it was your idea to supercharge the shield."

The Elite sighed. "Very well." He reached out with a hoof and gave the SPARTAN a light tap and aimed his rifle down should he have moved. When no motion came he tapped him again, harder this time. Still nothing. The Elites looked at each other then turned to their comrade at the control panel. "I think we have a big problem."

Just then the SPARTAN sprang to life. In a flash, Jesse grabbed a plasma grenade from one of the Elites and dove out of the cell. In mid-dive he hurled the grenade back into the cell and the two Elites were engulfed in the blast. The third Elite bellowed angrily and fired its plasma rifle and fired. Jesse dodged and rolled in close and kicked in the Elite's knee. The alien howled as it fell backwards. Jesse crushed its hand holding the plasma rifle and took the weapon. The Elite sat up to try and fight back but the SPARTAN crushed its neck beneath his boot. Jesse turned towards the door and approached slowly. He wasn't sure how much attention the skirmish had just aroused. As he neared the door he paused to check his motion sensors. There was definitely something on the other side. Jesse paused moment. He was outgunned and outnumbered. Nothing new to him but this time it was on the enemy's home turf. Jesse walked back to the fallen Elite and gathered a couple plasma grenades that had been dropped.

After taking a deep breath he opened the door. Standing directly in front of him were a pair of Hunters. The slimy orange worms that were composed inside the Hunter's body armor were not to be taken lightly. They colonized together to create the monstrous Hunter that could easily wipe out an entire base alone. The armored aliens turned around slowly. Jesse armed a plasma grenade and stuck it to the midsection of one of the Hunters before taking cover back inside the room. The alien growled and was engulfed in the blue-white light. Worms and gore covered the hallway. The other Hunter remained stunned from the close proximity blast. Jesse opened the door again and was about to rush out when the Hunter roared. It raised the massive shield attached to its left arm and swung it. Jesse jumped up and the shield hit his feet. The force sent the SPARTAN flying back and skidding across the floor. He shook the stars out of his head and looked up as the Hunter charged. The razor-sharp spines on the Hunter's back stood erect. Jesse got up and ran towards the back wall. Just before the two-ton behemoth could crush him, he leaped high into the air, bounced off the back wall and flipped backwards out of the range of the Hunter and its deadly spines. The monster slammed head on into the wall and fell to the ground. Jesse was almost certain that it would not get up for a while after putting a dent into the wall nearly the size of the alien itself. But the Hunter slowly began to rise and Jesse was forced to arm the last plasma grenade and attached it to the Hunter's exposed midsection. He retreated far enough to escape the force of the explosion and the Hunter stayed down this time.

Jesse took a moment to check his suit's status and grab the plasma rifle he'd dropped. His armor's systems showed green across the board. With plasma rifle raised he entered the hallway. Nothing moved, which bothered him. He remembered one of CPO Mendez's remarks from training: "If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't." Jesse knelt down and huddled close to the wall. He switched his visor to infra-red scanning. Sure enough, several contacts came into view and Jesse swallowed hard. The hallway was filled with Elites using their active camouflage. The only reason they didn't appear on his motion tracker was because they were standing perfectly still. Jesse slowly began backing away, pretending that he hadn't noticed them. All at once his motion tracker picked up movement. Jesse turned around, finger on the trigger and stared directly at the Honor Guard that had its spear level with his chest. For a long tense moment, neither moved. Then a surge of electricity ripped through the SPARTAN'S body and he fell to the ground unconscious again.

"Your Excellency." One of the special operations Elites spoke up after he and his team deactivated their cloaking devices. "Should we really be keeping this demon in such light security quarters like this? Not to go against your judgement but I wish to understand your reasoning sir."

The Honor Guard Larranus smiled. "I was hoping to find out the level of fight this demon had before I carried out our revenge." He looked down at the unconscious SPARTAN. "And from the looks of it, he should put up a fairly decent fight. Bring him to the coliseum. We will begin broadcasting in two cycles. The time has come for us to take our revenge and show the human race that their efforts against us are in vain."

**0600 Hours, September 13, 2541 (military calendar)/ Lambda Serpentis System, Planet Draco III**

"That's the last of them." Cortana reported. "Nothing new on this one either."

"Very well." Master Chief sighed. He plucked Cortana's AI crystal from the data slot of the downed Covenant phantom. The SPARTANS had spent the past twenty four hours checking all the records on board the Covenant phantoms that the SPARTANS had brought down in the canyon. Most were accessible, but others had been damaged too much to be able to get anything useful out of.

"So we're stuck." Fred groaned. "What we have is what we get."

"Not necessarily." Cortana replied once she was back inside John's helmet. "I will admit that our plan will be delayed a bit but we should still be able to pull it off with any luck."

"Care to fill us in?" John asked.

"I was able to get some schematics on these phantoms. If we gather the parts we need from them we can put them together to fix one and get on with the mission of retrieving Gold Leader."

"That might work." John nodded in agreement. "What then? How are we going to find out where to find Jesse at?"

"Well, there are no flight logs for these ships. But they do have records that they keep whenever they go in to resupply or for maintenance. There are two coordinates in each of these phantoms and they are all exactly the same."

"So they ran a systems check before attacking I assume?" Kelly piped up from the rear hatch of the ship. She was a little shaky after her accident in the warthog but was not one to be kept down for very long.

"Yes. They did a systems check here on Draco III. They were fitted and equipped somewhere else. Somewhere far outside colonial space."

"And that's where you think Jesse is?" Fred asked.

"No. But it might be a start as to finding his exact location."

"All right then." John turned to Blue team. "Let's get to work." He exited the phantom and the other SPARTANS straightened up immediately. "SPARTANS, Cortana is going to give you all a quick briefing on your new objectives."

"We have to get at least one of these phantoms up and in working order." Cortana took over. "In order to do that we need to collect the parts from several of the other ships in the area. The Chief and I are going to remain here and take care of the maintenance process. We'll need the rest of you to gather the necessary parts to get this baby up and running." She sent a file to each of the SPARTANS with the schematics of the phantoms and the parts that were required.

The next several hours dragged on at a snail's pace. Gold Team moved across the canyon to the east entrance and gathered several parts before bringing them back. The battlefield was clear of Covenant bodies but the smell of blood remained in the air. As they drove the warthog back to their LZ Dan caught Kimberly looking out at the landscape.

"Hey. You okay?" He broke the silence.

"I'm fine." Kimberly replied without breaking her gaze. "I'm just a little worried about Gold Leader. I'm curious as to why the Covenant wanted him so bad."

"So do the rest of us." Dan nodded. "Although I'm not one hundred percent certain that I want to find out."

"I know what you mean." Kimberly chuckled. "Now that I think about it, I wonder if Jesse's still alive?"

"Of course he is."

"I mean do you think that he knows what's going on around him?"

"Do you mean waking up and finding himself surrounded by Covenant?"

"Yeah."

Now it was Dan's turn to chuckle. "Well, if he is then I sure feel sorry for the Covenant."

"No arguments there ." Kimberly nodded.

Dan reached over and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. If the Covenant want him alive then he'll be making their lives a living hell."

"Just wait until I get my hands on those split-chinned bastards. They'll wish they never even considered capturing a SPARTAN in the first place."

"Sounds fun." Dan nodded in agreement.

"How's it coming Chief?" Kelly asked late that night.

"It's coming along." John replied and worked the kinks out of his neck.

"As well as can be expected anyway." Cortana added. "You'll need to weld that spot there or else the engines will burn out before we even get this thing off the ground."

"Got it." John replied and continued working. All the parts had been gathered and now came the task of replacing the damaged units and filling in the holes of the ship. Outside, Gold Team was busy welding armor plates they had taken off several of the other phantoms. They concluded that if they were going to take this ship into enemy territory then they would need to make the phantom look as though it were in fair shape and not just put back together by a group of humans.

"Almost done Chief." Cortana coaxed. "Just a few more parts need to be installed and we should be done."

"I'm not complaining." John continued tinkering away with his tools. Several minutes passed then suddenly Cortana's voice came flooding back.

"Chief! We have an incoming transmission!"

"Who is it from?"

"It's not a UNSC channel. It's not a channel that I'm familiar with."

"Then it's probably from the Covenant."

"Log me into the ship's core for a second." Cortana suggested. "I'll see if I can bring it up." John pulled her crystal out of his helmet and inserted in back into the ship's data slot. A split second later several of the ship's interior lights flickered on. "Well, we definitely have some power."

"And the transmission?" John asked impatiently.

"It's a live broadcast!" Cortana exclaimed. "That's very unlike the Covenant. I'm bringing it up on screen." A hologram appeared at the front of the ship and Larranus's face appeared on screen. Or rather his face, half covered by the crowned helmet he wore.

"_This message goes out to all Covenant forces throughout the stars, and to the human filth wherever they may be hiding._"

"Um. Chief!" Dan's voice came from outside. "There's a broadcast coming in over the warthog's radio!"

"I know. We've got it inside as well." John replied. Moments later Cortana forwarded the video feed to the other SPARTANS.

"_I am Second Prince Larranus of the Elite Nation. To my brothers in arms, I thank you for your efforts in carrying out our revenge on the human disease. Today is truly a joyous day for the Covenant. As for you human vermin who are watching, you all should realize that resisting us is not going to save your pathetic race. Your destruction has been called upon by the Gods and you will be eradicated._"

"Is this all he's going to babble about?" Leslie asked. "We're hated by the Covenant. We get it already."

"_You humans look up to those among you who can do the impossible. Who go far beyond anyone normal can. Your heros are your sole strength." _The image changed from Larranus to an open coliseum. It had multiple levels, all leading up to a giant floating platform hovering over four pillars reaching up from the floor. And in between those four pillars lay a body.

"Jesse!" Kimberly gasped.

"_Here is one of your so-called heros._" Larranus continued. "_He is being charged for the murder of my brother and the First Prince of all Elites. You will soon come to see that there are no heros when you dare to withstand the Covenant_."

Everything went silent.

"Cortana. Is that it? Is the broadcast over?" Fred asked urgently.

"No. It's still going on. I think that they're waiting for Gold Leader to wake up. I'm not sure how long that will be but we need to hurry. Chief?"

"I know. I'm working on it." John replied. "That broadcast is on a Covenant channel correct?" Cortana was silent for a moment.

"I see where you're going with this. I'll see what I can do?"

"SPARTANS! Get your gear ready." Master Chief ordered. "The moment this ship is repaired, we're out of here."

"Sir! Yes sir!" The SPARTANS chimed in together.

"Chief. I've got a faint lock on the signal. It's closer than I had expected but still far out from colonial space. We can head right for it."

"Just let me get these couple parts here in." John muttered.

"We don't have time." Cortana interrupted. "As long as the slipspace drive is online and most of this ship's main functions are operational, we can make due."

"Very well. I trust your judgement Cortana."

"You should." The AI made a slight chuckle.

"SPARTANS, load up now. We're leaving." Seconds later the phantom was filled with bodies. "Cortana, take us up."

"Up, up and away Chief." Cortana replied. The rear hatch closed and everything was dark. A moment passed before the interior lights came on again. The phantom's engines hummed to life and the lights grew brighter. "I have power." Cortana reported. "It may take a moment to get this baby up though."

"Come on Cortana." Dan urged. "Let's do this."

"Hang on everyone." The phantom jolted and the SPARTANS were thrown into one another.

"What's going on?" Fred groaned, obviously irritated at being knocked around.

"Just a little engine trouble. The core is having a hard time charging up. Give it a moment." The humming turned to a roar and the phantom jolted a couple more times. "Got it!" Cortana yelled and the phantom lifted into the air. The roar disappeared and the dropship hovered a few meters off the ground.

"All right Cortana. Let's go get our man." John said.

"You got it Chief." Cortana chirped. The phantom turned around and took off towards the clouds. In a matter of minutes the phantom broke through Draco III's gravitational pull and into the darkness of space. Cortana tracked the coordinates of the transmission and the calculations flashed along the control panel. "I've got a lock on the signal Chief. Preparing slipspace drive. We'll be fully charged in three minutes."

Kimberly counted down the seconds as she watched the screen overlooking the coliseum. SPARTAN-029 still hadn't moved from his position on the floor. Deep down she wanted him to wake up but she knew better at this particular time. For now, he was safer just being left unconscious. "Hang on Jess." She thought to herself. "We're coming for you."

"Slipspace drive is fully charged. Ready to jump when you are Chief." Cortana announced.

"Do it." John nodded. In a flash the phantom disappeared into slipspace.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Mobile Command Station, Destroyer's Invocation**

"Uh god." Jesse moaned to himself as he slowly began to come to. "I don't know if I can take much more of this constantly getting knocked out." He opened his eyes just slightly. His vision was still blurry so he closed his eyes again and waited.

"This human is starting to irritate me." Larranus growled. "It has been well over a cycle since we began this broadcast across the galaxy and he hasn't so much as twitched."

"Patience my son." Draetuse cautioned his son. He had arrived shortly before SPARTAN-029's attempted escape and was now standing beside his son overlooking the stadium. As usual, he was dressed in his formal Elite Councilor armor which was a bright silver and with a crowned head piece more elaborate than his son's. "We have waited four long years for this moment. Another cycle or two won't matter. It will simply make the experience that more satisfying."

"Your Excellency. If I may ask." Riobonne spoke up from behind them. "About the broadcast. No humans should be able to block it. Correct?"

"I know what you are concerned about Field Commander. I assure you, all the necessary precautions have been taken. The broadcast is on a Covenant channel so that the humans cannot interfere with it. They will not be able to block it, nor will they be able to trace it. The only ones able to do such a thing would be Covenant vessels." He curled his mandibles into a toothy grin. "But I don't think anyone in the Covenant would want to miss an event like this."

"Then I would suggest that you get to work then." Draetuse thrust his head back towards the stadium floor. "It seems that your prey is waking up."

"Excellent." Larranus clicked his mandibles in eager anticipation.

Down on the floor Jesse slowly began to get up. His head was spinning slightly but he was thankful that his vision had cleared up. He pushed himself up off the floor and got to one knee. He checked his suit's systems. Everything was in perfect combat condition. His right eye was okay and his hearing was normal. He stood up and felt vertigo. His legs nearly gave out on him and he fell against a pillar. Once he had himself stabilized he began checking out his surroundings. He had been lying between four pillars in the middle of a big open-roofed room. There were ramps leading up and down the walls and a giant platform suspended high over his head.

"Finally, you're awake demon!" Larranus's voice echoed throughout the stadium.

Jesse clutched at his head. "What the hell do you want split-face?" No one was around that he could see but he knew that he was being watched.

"This is the Midship Coliseum. Where the finest Elite warriors battle one another in tests of strength and ability."

"I'm not a some stinking Elite in case you haven't noticed."

"Quite true demon. But you should be honored. You are the only human that will ever set foot on such honored ground. You are obviously the human race's greatest warrior. We shall see how well you fare against an Elite of the highest caliber."

"Are you that so-called Prince of the Elites?"

Larranus laughed. "Ah. I see that you've learned about me already. To answer your question, yes. I am the Prince of all Elites."

Jesse looked around, looking for a way to escape. He was beginning to dislike the situation more and more. There were some small openings in the walls hollowed out into rooms, but with no doors inside. The more he scanned the arena, the more it became apparent, that he would need to fight his way out of here.

"Okay." The SPARTAN sighed. "If you want a fight. I'll give you a fight."

Out in slipspace the other SPARTANS watched intensely. Dan gave a slight smirk behind his faceplate. His CO's remark was the same thing he had said back on the ice planet Sidewinder when his team had first made contact with the Covenant's ground forces.

"What is he thinking?" Fred pondered aloud. "He's surrounded by Covenant. If he fights and wins, then it will be over for him in no time."

"I wouldn't bet on it." The Master Chief muttered under his breath. "Watch and you'll see."

"But, before we get this little show going, I need to get myself prepped for battle."

Larranus was surprised by this comment. "You have no weapons. You have no one to help you. How do you expect to prepare yourself for your imminent demise?"

"We have our reasons and our ways. Now are you going to grant me this final request or not?" Jesse was hoping to feed the Elite's ego as much as he could.

Larranus laughed again, except louder. "Very well demon. I will grant your wish. Take as much time as you like. But be forewarned. You are only delaying the inevitable."

"Thank you." Jesse dropped to one knee and bowed.

"What the hell was that?" Kelly demanded.

"I get it." Dan nodded approvingly.

"Care to fill me in?" Kelly asked.

"Stop and think about it Kelly." Dan replied. "Jesse is the martial arts expert out of all of us. And he was always really into the philosophy behind the fighting arts. I think he's using some of the tactics he's learned to buy himself some time."

"He's hoping that we'll be coming for him." John pointed out. "He doesn't know for sure. But he's trying to drag out his situation as much as possible."

"But agreeing to fight will make things worse for him and us." Kelly protested.

"Not necessarily." Cortana piped up. "I've heard of tactics like this before. Jesse's using mind manipulation to get what he wants."

"Mind manipulation? So he's acting a certain way to get the enemy to behave differently than they normally would?"

"Exactly. Jesse's using a 'death by words' ploy to lure in the Elite Prince. He's making the Prince's ego inflate to give himself some time to think and come up with a strategy. My only concern is, how long can he keep this up?"

Jesse stretched his limbs out for almost two hours, making sure every part of his body was nice and loose. He needed to relax and be able to think straight. His survival was counting on it. After he was done stretching, he positioned himself between the four pillars. He stood at attention and closed his eyes. He put his motion sensor alert monitor on should anything dare to get too close to him. Slowly, the SPARTAN began to breathe. In through his nose, then out through the mouth. He felt his heart rate drop and his muscles relax. His breathing pace became so slow that each complete breath took over a minute to complete. Meditation was Jesse's best weapon besides his training. He was able to calm his mind and body to the point where he could carry out any mission so quickly and fluidly that the enemy didn't know what had hit them.

More time passed. Jesse could hear the sound of footsteps. He opened his eyes and let them sweep around the arena. High above him, Covenant troops were gathering. The mouth of the arena was surrounded by stadium seats that overlooked the entire area. Elites gathered in closer to the edge of the balcony while Jackals and Grunts were forced to sit behind them. Jesse also took notice that the very front row was empty. No Elite moved towards it. All the SPARTAN could do was watch and wait. Another couple hours passed as more Covenant troops filled the stadium's seats. Now it seemed as though there was a sea of Covenant bodies surrounding SPARTAN-029. Jesse didn't dare close his eyes now. He had expected enemies down on the floor but not from above. If they wanted to, they could obliterate him at any moment. He listened as the hiss of Covenant voices above him slowly grew to a loud roar. It looked like they were getting impatient.

"Well demon. Have you finished your final reparations?" Larranus's voice boomed over the audience.

Jesse paused a moment and jumped a couple times to wake himself up. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

There was a thunderous cry from the spectators. The sound of a blast door opening grabbed the SPARTAN'S attention. He turned to see Larranus march out of one of the little alcoves in the arena and the Elites bellowed excitedly. Jesse frowned. This was the same Elite who had zapped him after he had broken out of the brig. He looked up at the point of the spear Larranus carried. The electric pulse that thing had would be a problem. Larranus quieted the crowd and looked down at the SPARTAN whose stared fixated on his spear.

"Worried about my weapon?" Larranus sneered. The SPARTAN didn't answer. "Not to worry." Larranus said, throwing the spear to the side. "I will not be using this." Jesse crossed his arms. Larranus pointed upward. "At the top of that platform is an Elite Holy Weapon. The one who possesses that weapon will, in turn, own this match." Jesse looked up. He couldn't see what the weapon was. All he could do was search around the arena for a way up to the floating platform.

"So when do we get started?" Jesse asked.

"We Elites are always ready for combat. We will begin once you are ready." Larranus gave a toothy grin.

"Alright then." Jess shifted his stance. "Let's go."

"Very well." Larranus nodded. Then in a loud voice, he hollered, "Begin!" He bolted to the side and Jesse followed. Larranus swung a fist at the SPARTAN and Jesse blocked it. He shoved the Elite to the side and ran up a ramp to the next level of the arena. The audience snarled angrily at seeing the prince get bumped aside. The SPARTAN didn't care. He darted through one of the alcoves and up another ramp. Down bellow the Elite Prince was charging up a ramp on the opposite side of the stadium one level bellow. The SPARTAN ran up one more ramp to the highest level. He rushed out of the alcove and jumped onto the floating platform. The platform wobbled and the SPARTAN had to regain his balance. Once he was stabilized, he looked up. Suspended there in the middle of the platform was an Elite energy sword.

Larranus hadn't been kidding when he had said that the holder of the weapon would be the holder of the match. Jesse had just started to move towards it when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. In a flash he dove off the platform as a shower of plasma grenades landed and detonated, leaving half of the platform burned away. The force sent the SPARTAN spinning head over heals through the air before he landed hard on floor bellow. Jesse felt the wind rush out of him and he struggled to get it back. He looked up to see the entire front row of seats suddenly filled with black ops Elites. They had waited until he was about to win to try and nail him.

"It seems you lose demon." Jesse got to his feet and looked up at Larranus who peered over the edge of the platform at him. In his right hand he held the energy sword.

"Not if I have anything to say about it split-face." Jesse took one step then a shot fired. A plasma projectile hit his shields and depleted them to fifty percent. Jesse froze. His eyes moved up to several of the black ops Elites. Some carried plasma rifles but several others were holding a new weapon he'd never seen before. They were purple and had long barrels which made for good pinpoint shots. It seemed to be the Covenant's version of Gold Team's new BR55 battle rifles.

Jesse stayed motionless until his shields were fully recharged. His back leg tensed up and he sprinted forward. The arena was suddenly filled with the sounds of plasma fire and the air was streaked with plasma bolts and projectiles. Jesse dove into one of the alcoves and positioned himself as far from the opening as possible so the new weapons wouldn't be able to reach him; hopefully.

"What the fuck!" Kimberly snapped. "Those Covenant bastards are totally making this a one sided match!"

"So what else is new?" Kelly muttered. She had her arms crossed and was no more happy with the situation than her fellow SPARTANS.

"SPARTANS." John grabbed everyone's attention. "It doesn't look like we'll have much of a choice in our mission. If the Covenant manage to kill SPARTAN-029, then we'll have no choice but to go in and make sure they don't get the opportunity to study him at all." All the SPARTANS were silent. "I don't want to resort to such a thing with a fellow teammate. But we have a duty to perform. A duty as SPARTANS and to the rest of humanity."

"Yes sir." The SPARTANS saluted.

John turned back to the screen and opened a private channel to Gold Team. "I'm sorry Gold Team. I didn't want it to come to this."

"We understand sir." Kimberly was the first to reply, surprisingly. "We SPARTANS have a job to do. We are the human race's last hope for survival."

"Yes sir." Dan chimed in. "It's our duty to keep the human race alive by any means necessary."

John sighed. He knew Gold Team was fully aware of what needed to be done. He almost wished that they really didn't have to put their minds to it.

Jesse panted almost silently. He was trapped with no way out of this hell hole. The alcove was empty except for a small gravity lift in the corner which threw an evil purple glow through the room. He moved to the shadows and slowly approached the opening. He could see some of the Elites with their weapons aimed at the hole. If he stepped out then he would be dead before he finished his first step.

"Fucking Covenant." He hissed to himself and moved back a bit, concerned that he may get spotted. He could handle being caught slightly off guard and being shot at by the black ops Elites. But he couldn't stand not having a weapon in hand. Up above, Larranus was probably taking his time and waiting for the SPARTAN to come out of hiding before moving in for the kill.

"Okay, Jess. Calm down. You've fought Elites with swords before. You can handle this." He took a couple more deep breaths before turning his eyes back outside. "Wait a second." His gaze fell on the spear Larranus had thrown aside. "That's a start." He sprang from the shadows and rolled across the floor. Immediately the shooting began again. Jesse dodged left and right as best he could before diving for the spear and ducking back into another alcove. He gasped for a couple breaths and checked himself over. His shields were down to ten percent and a red light was flashing a warning. Jesse took refuge in the shadows again and let his shield recharge. He checked his motion tracker. As he expected, enemy contacts were everywhere. His motion tracker would be useless in a place like this where everything moved.

"No matter." He muttered to himself. "Mendez always warned us not to rely too heavily on our machines. Machines break; instincts don't." Jesse scanned the arena outside. He spotted the nearest ramp and took aim for it. Plasma bolts and projectiles hit the floor behind him. Jesse rushed up the ramp and into the next alcove and the next ramp until he was back up to the platform's level. The SPARTAN peeked from around the corner at the platform. Larranus was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck. The SPARTAN cursed. He ducked back as several plasma bolts pelted the wall next to him. He sighed and looked up at the tip of the spear. "I see now. It's just like it was all those years ago." He smiled to himself behind his faceplate. "It's just like Juggernaut. And the Covenant is It."

**0900 Hours, January 13, 2521 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, Planet Reach**

"Okay 029." CPO Mendez walked with Jesse outside the dropship. "We're going to change our lesson for today." It was midwinter and snow covered the ground of the training preserve. SPARTAN-029 stood 5'7'' in full ODST armor. In the past four months he had grown five inches and was still far stronger than any of the other SPARTANS. "Today, I've decided not to make you the juggernaut. You will have to face your teammates today and beat every one of them in order to win."

"Sir! Yes sir!" Jesse nodded. "I assume you mean all the other SPARTANS sir!"

"That's correct 029. They are scattered throughout the preserve and are using stun ammunition. So if you get knocked out. You lose."

"Understood sir."

"Very good 029." Mendez turned and began walking back to the dropship.

"Sir?" Jesse called after him. His voice squeaked, still slightly recovering from his bio-augmentation months before. Mendez turned and looked at him. "I'm guessing that I'm unarmed in this exercise?"

"Do what you need to to win 029." Mendez ordered. "Go!" He shouted. There was a slight rustle in the trees and Jesse felt something bounce off his armor. He ducked and rolled to the side and turned around. He spotted three figures duck into the forest and vanish in the shadows. Jesse tore off after them. His enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of footsteps up ahead. They were faint but still audible. All at once the footsteps stopped and Jesse ducked out of the way as several stun darts zipped by. He had to keep moving. SPARTANS were trained to hit moving targets but even a target moving as fast and unpredictable as him would be difficult for any SPARTAN.

Jesse knelt down and grabbed a couple sticks from the snow. He could see the three SPARTANS just ten yards ahead of him. It was Luis, Nathan and Samantha; Team Five. All held stun rifles at the ready and were scanning the area cautiously. Jesse threw the sticks several yards away and they hit a tree. Samantha turned her head but not her gun. Jesse grabbed two more sticks and ducked behind a fallen tree. He threw one to his other side and snapped the remaining one before the other hit the ground. This time the rifles moved with the noise and Jesse took the chance. He sprang forward and closed the gap between him and his fellow SPARTANS in a split second. The three kids turned and fired. Jesse ducked under the barrels and struck Samantha and Luis in the stomachs. The two of them keeled over unconscious and Nathan moved in to strike with the butt of his rifle. In a flash, Jesse yanked the gun from the boy's hands and jabbed him in the gut as well.

"That should be enough to put them out for a bit." Jesse whispered to himself. He then turned back to the forest. "Although I have to say. It's going to be tough to find the others." He spent a moment pondering to himself. There would no doubt be SPARTANS at the outpost further in. But where to find the others? "The clearing." Jesse made his way through the forest until he reached the opening in the trees where he and Kimberly had encountered the rebel spies the year before. Sure enough, Dan, Kimberly, and John were there. The three of them were standing out in the middle of the clearing.

"We thought we'd catch you here." Kimberly smiled.

"Catch me?" Jesse asked. "I thought I'd catch you guys."

"We have a little bet with the other SPARTANS that we'll be able to take you down on our own."

"Is that so?" Jesse's eyes scanned the area. He couldn't see any signs of the other SPARTANS. This had to be a trap. John rarely left his team unless the situation absolutely called for it. "If that's the case then I suppose I'll save you guys for last." Jesse started to back away out of the clearing.

"Now!" John shouted. A rustle came from behind Jesse. Sam, 034, sprang up from beneath the snow and raised his rifle. In a flash, Jesse spun and delivered a backfist to Sam's head just as he pulled the trigger. Sam fell to the frozen ground unconscious and Jesse felt a surge run through him. Sam had managed to hit him with a dart that now lodged into Jesse's side. However there was no time for pain because John, Dan and Kimberly all raised their rifles. Jesse grabbed Sam and used his body as a shield. He charged back into the clearing and hurled his limp teammate at the three SPARTANS. They dodged to the side and fired. Jesse rolled and scooped up a couple handfuls of snow and chucked the snowballs at Dan and John. They swatted them out of the way and Jesse leaped into the air and hit John and Dan with a scissor-kick. One kick hit John in the chest, the other connected with Dan's head. John was sent rolling through the snow and Dan simply crumbled to the ground. Kimberly raised her rifle and Jesse swept her legs out from beneath her. She fell hard and rolled away as Jesse slammed a fist into the snow where she had just been. She shouldered her rifle again and aimed directly at Jesse.

"Don't think that just because we're teammates and I like you, that I'll go easy on you."

"Aw. I was hoping I could get a break." Jesse shrugged as he and Kim circled each other. "You sure you can hit me before I hit you?"

"I'm positive."

"Oh yeah? How many rounds do you have left?"

Kimberly looked down at the ammo counter on her gun. Suddenly a palm-strike came up and connected with her chin. Kimberly's body went airborne for a second then hit the ground.

"Sorry Kimsey." Jesse sighed and knelt down beside her. He reached out and ran his fingers through her soft hair. He checked their pulses to make sure they were okay. Dan had a cut on the side of his head which Jesse bandaged with his uniform sleeve. Kimberly's lip was cut but other than that she seemed fine. Jesse stood up to check on John. The young squad leader stood before him in a fighting stance ready to go. Jesse smiled behind his faceplate. He raised his fists as well and the two stared at each other.

"Before I kick your ass, I just want to let you know something." John said with a smile.

"Huh?" John didn't smile very often. But when he did it usually meant trouble for someone.

"You're wide open." Before Jesse could react there was the sound of a bang. Jesse felt another stun dart hit him in the lower back. As the charge ripped through him Jesse whirled around and grabbed up Kimberly's rifle. He flung it at a tree and hit the trunk. The tree shook and snow from several of the branches fell loose onto Kelly who was perched fairly high up. The sudden impact knocked her off balance and off her perch. Jesse lunged for her and struck her before she hit the ground.

"Got you!" John grabbed Jesse from behind and got him in a strangle hold. Jesse grabbed John's arms and jammed his fingers into his pressure points. John gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore the pain. Instead he tensed his muscles even more. Jesse spun around and slammed John into a tree. He heard a loud crack and bent down to fling him off his back. John bounced across the ground, leaving imprints of blood in the snow. After a minute he got to his feet. "I'm not going to lose Jesse." He smiled.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Jesse panted. He charged forward in a zig-zag pattern should anyone else be around with a rifle. Just before he hit John he felt several more darts hit him. This time the charge stopped every muscle in his body. "No way." Jesse groaned as he stumbled forward into the snow.

"Sorry Jesse." John shrugged. "You lose."

"But...How...Who?"

"Take a wild guess." John chuckled as he towered over his fellow SPARTAN.

"Linda? I should have known. You and Blue Team, I swear." Jesse was struggling to get to his feet.

"Don't try it Jess." John shook his head.

"SPARTANS don't give up John." Jesse groaned. "No matter what."

"I know. That's why I have to stop you myself."

"Huh?" Before Jesse could look up John struck him in the head with the butt of his rifle.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Mobile Command Station, Destroyer's Invocation**

"I may have lost back then, but I won't lose this time around." Jesse thought to himself. He looked up at the Elites in the front row. Most were carrying plasma rifles while the others shouldered the plasma assault rifles. Jesse tightened his grip on the spear and rolled out of his hiding place. Immediately the plasma fire continued. Jesse bobbed and weaved in between the plasma bolts, waiting for the right moment. His shield's power was falling bit by bit. If something didn't happen soon, he'd be a sitting duck. At last it happened. An Elite hurled a plasma grenade in a high arch. The SPARTAN froze and waited as it dove down at him. Just before it hit he jabbed the spear head up and the grenade stuck. Jesse threw the spear at the Elites who ducked just in time. The spear landed in the third row of spectators and the grenade detonated. Several Covenant were obliterated in the blast and the force sent several bodies flying over the edge and into the ring. Jesse jumped off the platform as more plasma fire started again. He hit the floor and grabbed one of the plasma assault rifles. He ducked into another alcove as more plasma grenades fell to the floor.

The new weapon felt light in his hands. He looked it over real quick before scanning the room. The only light came from the gravity lift. Larranus was somewhere inside the ring. Jesse's instincts were telling him to move out of this place and somewhere else. He sprinted out of the alcove and through the pillars up a ramp and into another hiding spot across the ring. As Jesse checked his surroundings he realized that not a single shot had been fired. He poked his head out slightly and looked around. The Elites were watching him but they didn't have their weapons raised. Jesse moved back towards the wall and kept his barrel sweeping back and forth between the ramps on either side. The prince had to be getting ready to make his move. Jesse pictured the enormous Elite charging up a ramp with his energy sword ready to kill. Jesse listened. He couldn't hear the sound of any footsteps anywhere. Was the prince using an active camouflage? Jesse moved forward a couple of steps and dropped to one knee., making sure that his gun covered both ramps leading to his position. Just then there was a roar from behind. Jesse whirled around and fired once but missed. The Elite Prince flew high into the air with jaws opened wide. Jesse rolled to the side as the Elite slashed with the sword. He fired two more times and got the prince's left arm. Larranus bellowed and swung the sword again. Jesse stepped in close to avoid the strike and shouldered the Elite back. Larranus tumbled backwards and hurled a plasma grenade. Jesse rolled to the side and the force sent him into the wall. He looked up as the prince charged again and swung. Jesse was on the defensive. He rolled away again and again trying to avoid the super hot blade. At last Larranus had gotten close enough to him so that Jesse could retaliate. As the Elite moved in the SPARTAN slid between his legs and kicked the Elite in the back, sending him sprawling onto his face. Jesse got to his feet and turned with his weapon raised.

Larranus stood with saliva dripping from his mandibles. His armor seemed to shine a fiery orange more and more with every breath. "Do you really think you can win demon?"

"Oh yeah." Jesse snickered. "I know I can beat you and your little friends out there."

"Even in the face of certain death, you humans still refuse to see the truth. If you took the time to think about it, you'd realize that the carbine you are holding is no match against me and my Holy Blade."

"If I wanted to, I could down you before you even got to me." Jesse shouldered his weapon and took aim for the prince's head.

"I will take you up on that challenge." Larranus roared and lunged forward. Jesse fired into the Elite's crowned helmet. Larranus's shields flared and dissipated but the Elite kept up its charge. He thrust the energy sword forwards and Jesse stepped to the side. The Elite hurled his full body weight into the SPARTAN and tackled him off the second level of the arena. They hit the ground in a heap and Larranus rolled on top of the SPARTAN.

Up in the stands, the crowd roared in excitement. Grunts jumped ecstatically while the Jackals and Elites pumped the air with their fists raised. Jesse had lost the carbine during the fall. His head was spinning and he shook it to get himself straightened out.

"Now demon. It's time to die." Larranus growled and looked up. "Let it be known that the human race's greatest warriors are still no match for an Elite!" The Elites thunderous roars hurt Jesse's ears. Larranus raised the sword and swung. Jesse blocked the Elite's arm and the heated blade stopped within an inch of his face. The Elite and SPARTAN battled each other out for power. Larranus had the position advantage. He leaned down harder to push the sword into the SPARTAN. Jesse moved his head to the side. There was a sudden hissing and then a screeching sound as the energy sword cut into the floor. Jesse's shields lit up and the power quickly dropped to zero. All the SPARTAN could hear was the roaring above and the shield warning beeping in his ear. Then next thing he knew there was a super hot sensation on his shoulder. Larranus had managed to cut into him with the sword. The sudden swell of pain brought Jesse back. He flexed his muscles and thrust his hips to the side and rolled Larranus off of him. The Elite snarled in surprise and tried to swing up at the SPARTAN. Jesse moved his head back as the blade swung past him. Jesse grabbed the Elite's swinging arm and trapped it to the Elite's chest. Larranus struggled to free himself but the SPARTAN was determined to keep his arm down.

"What now demon?" Larranus laughed. "You may have me pinned down, but you are unable to attack me with anything."

"Wrong again split-face." Jesse gripped the Elite's wrist and elbow joints. He gave a hard squeeze and the Elite roared in agony. The pressure points definitely worked on Covenant troops and this was Jesse's only hope to survive this encounter. Jesse pulled up on the elbow and pushed the wrist in, causing the energy sword to cut through the Elite from the chest up. Larranus gave one last howl before gagging on his own blood and falling limp.

Everything was suddenly silent. The Covenant watched in silence as the SPARTAN rose to his feet. His shoulder was bleeding but other than that he was untouched. He looked up at the Covenant troops in the stands. Everyone was dead silent from shock.

Then the Elites roared. It wasn't out of grief or disgust, but out of pure hatred. They rose from where they sat and poured out of the stands and into the halls, shoving Jackals aside and trampling over Grunts. The stunned Jackals and Grunts followed after them and in a matter of minutes the stadium was empty. The silence irritated Jesse. He had no idea how to get out of the arena but the Elites knew how to get in. He grabbed up Larranus's plasma sword and turned off the power before attaching it to his leg. The prince had two plasma grenades left and Jesse took those as well.

Just then a wall in one of the alcoves split open and Elites poured into the arena. Jesse ducked under the plasma fire and grabbed the carbine he'd dropped. In a flash he was on his feet and firing at the Elites as he dashed up the ramps to the platform on the third level. The carbine was a very effective weapon. It took four shots to down one Elite. Not quite as effective as the battle rifle but it would have to do.

Three Elites hit the floor dead and seven more took their place. Jesse chucked a plasma grenade behind them and the explosion sent the aliens tumbling through the air. Jesse jumped onto the platform and fired down on the Elites swarming out of the alcove. Several were scrambling to take cover but most were just interested in getting at him. They weren't having much luck getting up the ramps to the platform. Jesse's elevated position protected him as well as well as allowed him to fire on the troops bellow.

The Elites were getting nowhere fast. The SPARTAN was making excellent use of his position and stolen weapon. Jesse put down two more Elites and aimed to kill another when the carbine clicked empty. He threw his last plasma grenade and three more Elites vanished in the explosion. Jesse quickly looked over the weapon. He pressed a glowing red button and the clip popped out of the top. He had no more ammo so he attached the weapon to his back.

Several plasma grenades exploded and the platform rocked to one side. Jesse was thrown off balance and stumbled to get his footing. Down bellow the Elites had destroyed one of the four pillars. Another group of Elites destroyed another one. The platform gave way and began to fall. The Elites scrambled to get out of the way as the SPARTAN and platform fell to the bottom of the stadium. Jesse fell on top of the pile of rubble and rolled off. He felt some ribs crack and was thankful to his MJOLNIR armor for keeping him more protected. Had it not been for his armor he would have been seriously injured.

The bellow of an angry Elite brought his eyes straight up. The eight-foot tall alien raised its plasma rifle to club the SPARTAN then froze. The SPARTAN withdrew the energy sword from the Elite's stomach and shoved the corpse aside. More Elites were coming and he would have to get through them to escape. Elites screamed in pain as the SPARTAN charged forward, slashing with the energy sword. Jesse snatched up plasma grenades and threw them into the alcove the Elites were coming out of. At last it was clear enough to go in. Jesse sprinted into the hallway beyond the stadium and was greeted by another squad of black ops Elites. The SPARTAN skidded to a halt and grabbed another plasma grenade. The Elites stopped as well. They all carried energy swords but were several meters from the SPARTAN which kept them from being able to use their weapons. For a tense moment, neither side moved. Then Jesse armed the grenade. The Elites took a step back and the SPARTAN threw the grenade. The grenade stuck to the Elite in the rear and he roared in panic. The grenade went off and the bodies were engulfed. Jesse kept his energy sword ready and continued down the halls.

"Wow." Dan gasped. "That was insane."

Kimberly took a couple steps back and leaned up against the side of the ship. Her heart was racing and she was sweating inside her suit.

The Master Chief kept his stare fixed on the screen. The arena was empty of any life. The pillars were destroyed, the platform was totaled, plasma burns peppered the area and dead bodies painted the stadium with purple blood. "Cortana. How long until we reach SPARTAN-029's location?"

"SPARTAN-029 is being held aboard a Covenant mobile command platform called Destroyer's Invocation. We won't reach it for another nine hours."

"Nine hours!" Fred exclaimed. "Jesse will be dead by then!"

"Can't we go any faster Cortana?" Kelly asked.

"Enough!" John snapped and raised a hand. Fred and Kelly straightened up and kept quiet. "Don't let the situation take over your training. CPO Mendez taught us better than that. We're SPARTANS. We're supposed to defy the impossible. But we can't do that if our minds are clouded with emotions. I don't like the situation any more than the rest of you. But we all know what needs to be done in the face of a worse-case scenario."

"Yes sir." The SPARTANS saluted.

John was not liking the situation at all. The SPARTANS were getting restless; something they never did. After this whole thing was over he would need to do something about it. Lately it seemed as though most of their problems were stemming around Gold Team; and it was slowly beginning to infect the other SPARTANS.

John watched as Dan, Kimberly and Leslie began checking over their gear. They were good soldiers and an incredible team. He could admire that. But perhaps the way they had grown up could have been done differently. He sighed inside his helmet. What was done was done. There was no sense dwelling on it. What mattered was his team and the safety of humanity. He would need to take whatever was necessary to carry out that mission.

SPARTAN-029 sprinted down the hall and through a pair of blast doors. He threw a plasma grenade behind him as the doors closed. A couple seconds passed and the squad of Jackals entered the room only to burn away in the blue-white explosion.

Jesse had no idea where he was. He had been running for at least a couple hours. He had not been able to pick up any weapons as he made his way around the Covenant station. This was due to the fact that the large groups of Covenant troops he had encountered had been dealt away with via plasma grenade. All he had was his empty carbine and Larranus's energy sword.

The SPARTAN sprinted up the inclined hall and to another pair of blast doors. He glanced back to see if anyone else had followed him. Nothing. He moved through the doors and into what looked like an engine room. There was an enormous generator that somewhat resembled a slipspace core on a UNSC frigate. Jesse's motion sensors picked up several contacts. He ducked down and peered over the edge of a platform he stood on. It overlooked the entire area and he was able to see the creatures bellow. Covenant Engineers floated along around the generator, taking things apart and putting it back together again. These little guys looked like a bunch of pre-chewed bubble gum with several long tentacles sticking out from its main body. They had float sacks filled with gas that allowed them to suspend themselves off the ground for quite some time. The Engineers were not combat oriented and were harmless if left alone. But if engaged they could raise a pretty mean alarm. After scanning the area thoroughly Jesse descended along a ramp to the bottom of the generator. The generator must have been as big around as a UNSC battle ship. One the floor thousands of Engineers floated about with their routines. Jesse had seen these things take apart entire vehicles in a matter of minutes. He carefully picked his way through the six-eyed gas sacks until he stood face to face with the generator. The light emanating from it was a dull blue. He raised a hand to touch the surface and felt the heat from the generator almost immediately. The Covenant must have kept their generators running around the clock should they need to move at all.

Jesse took a step back and looked around. Several plasma coils rose from the ground and to the ceiling. If it weren't for his lack of weapons, he would have destroyed them immediately and keep the ship from leaving normal space for any amount of time. Jesse moved away to gather his thoughts. He desperately wanted to see his teammates. But they were light years away with no possible way of getting to him. It was up to him to escape on his own. It wouldn't be easy, that was for sure. If only he could find an armory where he could get some decent weapons, then he might be able to make it out alive.

He gave a slight sigh and a wave of pain swept over his left side. He gripped his shoulder as the burning continued. He hadn't noticed the bleeding until he looked at his glove. He looked over at his bleeding shoulder to see that blood had been trickling out of the breech in his armor and down his side. At the rate he had been running, it was a wonder he hadn't lost consciousness. He suddenly felt very tired. He got to his feet to try and force himself to move on but his legs gave out. The loss of blood was finally getting to him. He reached into a small compartment on his belt and grabbed a small pack of bio-foam to seal the wound but his strength left him. The small canister fell to the floor and darkness took over.

Several chirps and squawks brought the SPARTAN back to consciousness. He opened his eyes only to see a big blur. Jesse blinked a couple times and slowly his world began to focus. Two Engineers floated above him, chirping back and forth between each other. The sight of the aliens jolted the SPARTAN awake and he moved to the side. The Engineers squawked in surprise. Jesse grabbed the energy sword and activated it. The Engineers shrank back but didn't leave. After a long hard moment one of them inched forward. Jesse's grip on the sword handle tightened. Slowly, the Engineer raised a tentacle and pointed it at the SPARTAN then pointed to his wound.

Jesse's eyes followed. "You can fix this?" The Engineer burbled softly. Jesse lowered the sword and turned off the power. The Engineer latched onto the SPARTAN'S arm and raised a couple tentacles. One reached into a small pouch attached to its side and passed something to the tentacle that rested over the SPARTAN'S wound. The limb opened up into hundreds of cilia. There was a slight tickling sensation then more burning. Jesse gritted his teeth. The second Engineer turned and gave a loud squeak. Two more Engineers floated over to the SPARTAN. Jesse gripped the energy sword again but did not activate it. The Engineers positioned themselves on each side and extended their tentacles behind his back. Jesse felt a slight pressure and sat up until he was able to kneel on one knee. One Engineer took his carbine and began taking it apart. Another assisted the first on Jesse's left arm. The remaining Engineer latched itself to the SPARTAN'S back. Jesse felt an access panel being removed but stayed still. If the Engineers tried anything funny, he would end them in a heartbeat.

Several minutes passed. The Engineers on his shoulder finished their work and moved off so Jesse could check out their handy work. The breech in his suit was completely sealed up. That eliminated one problem should he be forced to enter any atmosphere-free zone. The Engineer on his back spent another few minutes working. Then a tingle zipped through the SPARTAN'S body. Moments later his shield monitors came back on. They beeped for a moment then began to recharge. The Engineer put the access panel back and hovered away. Jesse stood up and looked himself over. He felt better. He was still feeling a bit weak from blood loss, but with his suit repaired he felt a bit more secure. He took in a few deep breaths to focus himself. Then he turned to the Engineers.

"Thank you." He gave a slight nod and the little aliens chirped and their eyes seemed to glow with satisfaction. He reached a hand out and gave one of them a rub on its tiny head. The alien cooed softly and its tentacles relaxed. The SPARTAN looked over at the Engineer with the carbine. It handed the gun back to the SPARTAN, butt first, and backed away. It turned towards a door on the far end of the room then looked back at the SPARTAN. Jesse took this as a sign to follow. He set the carbine onto his back and followed the Engineer through the doors. The hallways beyond were dimly lit and quiet. Unsettling for a SPARTAN. It wasn't long before the Engineer made its way through a pair of doors. Jesse was about to follow when his motion tracker picked up several objects. He ducked behind the door and gripped his sword handle. The Engineer stopped and returned. It paused to look up at the SPARTAN then latched onto his shoulder. It seemed to sense the SPARTAN'S tense feelings towards the other aliens. Jesse peered around from his hiding spot and gave the room a quick sweep. Inside were dozens of Grunts, lopping about. Most looked tired; the others just bored. Elites were entering and exiting from time to time after stocking up on ammunition and other weapons.

The room was just about as well lit as the hallways and long shadows cast about the armory. Perfect. Darkness was a SPARTAN'S best friend. Jesse turned on his night scanner and ducked inside the armory. He was surrounded by crates upon crates of Covenant weaponry. He could hear the chirping of Engineers somewhere in the room as well as the barks and squeaks of Grunts.

Jesse climbed to the top of one of the crates and gave the room a more thorough scanning. Many of the Elites waited at another entrance on the far end of the room and ordered the Grunts to bring them a specific weapon. Once the had it, they would then move to a group of Engineers for inspection before leaving. The SPARTAN could hear them growling to each other.

"The High Councilor has put a reward on the demon."

"It's too bad he wants the demon alive still."

"Perhaps he is going to exact a revenge in which the Second Prince had planned."

"That would be deeply satisfying."

"Let us go. We have a hunt to return to."

The SPARTAN crouched down and the Engineer gave a low whistle. It raised a tentacle and pointed to a weapons crate a few yards away. It let go of the SPARTAN and floated over to it. Mounted on it were two carbines and several rounds of ammunition. The Engineer grabbed a cylinder clip and returned to the SPARTAN. It grabbed the carbine off its back and set the clip in. Jesse took the weapon when the Engineer was done. On the clip was an indicator showing how much ammunition was left in the magazine. The SPARTAN held out his arm and the Engineer latched back on.

Jesse moved through the shadows and to another crate filled with plasma grenades. He grabbed four and looked around the room. He spotted a weapon rack with plasma rifles hung on it. He grabbed one and placed it on his free leg. The SPARTAN moved about the room, keeping to the shadows. There were certainly a lot of weapons being stored here. It was almost too bad his team wasn't there to enjoy it. Jess shook those thoughts from his head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about his team. He had himself to worry about.

After hiding in the shadows for some time, Jesse began to notice the decreasing numbers of Elites showing up to arm themselves. Now was his time to take action. Jesse waited for the first Grunt with nothing better to do walk by him. The waddling alien didn't even notice the SPARTAN standing literally inches from it. Once it passed by, Jesse struck. The Grunt's skull caved in and Jesse grabbed the body before it hit the floor. He grabbed one of the crates of plasma grenades and emptied the blue baseball-size grenades out. He stuffed the Grunt's body inside and began positioning the grenades all around the room. He was going to lure the Covenant troops into a trap they were not going to like.

Jesse grabbed as much carbine ammo as he could carry. His instincts told him he would need it. After he had loaded up enough ammunition he moved around the room, placing small clusters of plasma grenades into dark corners or spots where the Covenant were less likely to spot them.

"Has there been any sighting of the demon?" One of the black ops Elites asked impatiently.

"No. We have been searching the entire area. The field commanders are thinking of putting the entire station on lock-down to prevent the demon from escaping."

"I say we make blockades throughout the station so we can keep track of the demon if it is spotted."

"I like the sound of that. Let's start grabbing some turrets."

The Elites pushed past the Grunts and spread out throughout the room. One headed straight for the SPARTAN. Jesse crouched down in the shadows and did his best to blend in. The Elites were harder to fool than the Grunts but it could be done with a little patience and stealth. The Elite passed by the SPARTAN. It's attention was turned upward. Several mobile plasma turrets were laid across the tops of the weapon crates. The Elite was about to reach up and grab one when Jesse lunged from the shadows. He drew the energy sword and quickly and silently removed the Elite's head from its shoulders. He caught the body and the severed head before they hit the floor and moved them to the shadows. On to the next unlucky alien.

The SPARTAN dropped two more Elites without arousing any suspicion. As he waited for the fourth Elite to get closer to him, he heard the sound of hooves on the hard floor. Not the heavy steps of an Elite but the light clop of a Jackal. Jesse looked to the front of the armory and spotted a large group of special ops Elites being followed by several Grunts in black armor. These Grunts were part of the special ops forces of the Covenant as well and were known to carry heavy weapons. Jesse watched as the Grunts waddled over to the far wall and disappear from sight. The Elite, Jesse had been stalking grabbed a turret and turned back to the front of the room. Jesse had to strike now or else he would notice that his teammates were missing. He crept from the shadows and closed in on his prey. He grabbed the back of the Elite's armor and yanked him back into the darkness. Before the alien could utter a startled cry the SPARTAN plunged the energy sword into the back of the Elite's head. Jesse lowered the body and set the turret on the floor.

Jesse heard the hiss and squawks of the Jackals accompanying the special ops Elites. The Grunts returned to their commanders. Each carried either a plasma turret or a fuel rod cannon. The SPARTAN frowned. The fuel rod guns were usually only brought in to deal with heavy vehicles and large groups of military personnel. The Covenant were getting more serious about the situation and that meant Jesse would need to be more careful. The Elites grabbed their weapons next. They armed themselves with carbines and each carried an energy sword. Several of the Elites grabbed another weapon the SPARTAN had never seen before. It was slightly longer than the carbine and had what looked like an integrated scope on it. The Elites handed them to the Jackals who looked them over and gave the room a quick sweep. Jesse ducked behind a crate so as not to be spotted. After a moment he checked to see if the coast was clear. He darted to the next shadow and waited.

A Grunt waddled past him, still oblivious to the danger present. Just then it stopped. It raised a claw and looked at it. It was covered in blood. Jesse saw the Elite's blood had spilled across the floor and the Grunt had stepped in the puddle. The stocky little alien smelled the substance and sneezed in disgust. It looked around to try and see where the stuff was coming from but the SPARTAN ended its life before it could discover anything. Jesse's attention was turned when he heard a loud shriek. He looked over at a Jackal with its weapon raised. It pulled the trigger and missed. Three more Jackals gathered around it and fired. Jesse ducked back into the shadows as the particle beams whizzed past him. His shields hadn't been hit but the heat was still noticeable through his armor.

There were several more squawks from the Jackals and a roar from the Elites. Jesse's motion sensor started picking up enemies closing in on his position. He sprinted back towards the door and the Engineer latched onto his arm gave a startled squeak. Once through the doors, Jesse turned. He could see the Elites with carbines aimed directly at him. The SPARTAN armed a plasma grenade and pitched it back into the armory. The Elites dove to the side and out of the blast radius. Jesse turned and ran. They wouldn't be safe when the grenade went off and he didn't want to find out how much damage would be done if he stayed.

The Elites ducked down as the grenade hit the floor. The glowing grenade lit up the room and the shadows disappeared. The team of special ops were surrounded by plasma grenades. They opened their mouths but the sound of the explosions drowned out their cries. The fire consumed them and spread through the rest of the armory. The sheer size of the explosion blew off the blast doors and a shock-wave through several levels of the station. Jesse was knocked to the ground again but got up and continued to run back to the slipspace core. The Engineer squawked in fright and tightened its tentacles around the SPARTAN'S arm.

As he neared the core, the doors opened and a squad of Grunts appeared. Seven shots burst from the carbine and the Grunts went down. Jesse slowed his run and entered the room, keeping the barrel of his gun searching for a target. The Engineer released its grip and floated back to several of its fellow aliens. They chirped and squeaked at one another for a moment before going about their usual business.

Jesse let them be and moved on. He spotted another door on the bottom level and moved towards it. He checked the ammunition in his clip; a little over half full. He took a step closer then the door opened. The Elites jumped and roared in surprise. Jesse fired into the team of black ops and put a round through three of their heads. The remaining Elites drew their plasma rifles and fired. Jesse rolled to the side as the plasma bolts whizzed past. He rolled and fired, reloaded and eliminated that the last five Elites in the group.

As Jesse stood up he heard a cry behind him. He turned and saw that several of the Engineers had been hit by the plasma bolts. Their bodies lay still and burning from the plasma scars. Several of their comrades lowered themselves down to them and reached out with their tentacles. When the bodies didn't move, the Engineers would give a low, mournful coo. Jesse found himself feeling sorry for the creatures. They were just innocent bystanders in a nasty war. Much like the human civilians on Draco III. The memory of that slaughter brought the fire back to the SPARTAN. He grabbed up a couple more plasma grenades and continued down the hall.

"Coming out of slipspace." Cortana announced. The phantom popped out of the brilliant light of slipspace and into the vast darkness or normal space. Miles away, was the Covenant Command Station.

"It's about time." The Master Chief said. The other SPARTANS were suddenly up and about, checking their gear once again and working the kinks out of their joints. Some had managed to get some light nap time but most were just on the verge of snoozing.

"I already said it couldn't be helped Chief." Cortana reminded him. "Maybe next time I should make you walk."

"Where are we?" John asked ignoring her remark.

"This is Covenant space. This appears to be where they go to resupply their ships and undergo repairs if needed."

"Dear god in heaven." Dan gasped as he looked at the video screen Cortana had brought up. "I've never seen a Covenant fleet that big before."

"I don't think anyone has." Leslie piped up.

"Or would want to." Fred added.

"Chief." Kimberly walked up beside John. "I really don't like the looks of this."

"I know what you mean." John nodded. "Finding Jesse in there is going to be like looking for a needle in slipspace."

"Not just that." Will pointed out. "That Covenant fleet is enough to take out the rest of the human race as it is. We have to do something about it."

"I have to agree." The Master Chief's gaze moved across the scene littered with Covenant warships.

"I have an idea." Cortana chirped proudly. "It may be a bit of a stretch but definitely doable."

"We're listening."

"Give me a moment to access the Covenant Battle Net. I need to look into something. In the meantime, someone take the controls. I need to be at full capacity to make this work right."

"Leave it to me." Dan saluted and moved up to the front control panel.

"No need to rush Gold Two." Cortana stated. "There's Covenant ships coming in from all over the place. It seems SPARTAN-029 has been giving them quite a bit of a hard time."

"What did they expect?" Kelly chuckled. "He's a SPARTAN."

"Apparently a high-ranking Elite has put out a hit on our man. He's going to 'greatly reward the one who brings him the human's demon.' I'm amazed that after all that's happened, they still want him alive."

"Are you sure they want him alive?" Fred asked.

"Until further notice."

"What's the plan Cortana?" The Master Chief interrupted. "We can't expect to go in there and not have the entire Covenant fleet come down on our heads."

"I agree. That's why I'm going to access the Covenant Battle Net and see if I can establish contact with SPARTAN-029. Maybe he can take care of this."

"I really hope Jesse's up it." Kelly said as she stared at the Covenant armada.

"He'll come through." John assured her. "He always has before. It would be really unlike him to stop now."

"No argument there Chief." Kimberly gave the slightest hint of a nod and cycled the bolt of her battle rifle.

The Covenant Command station was on high alert. Every corridor was backed with teams of Elites, Grunts and Jackals as well as the occasional pair of Hunters for support. Most of the teams consisted of black ops Elites and Honor Guards. Grunts controlled plasma turrets and stationary guns. The Elites carried carbines so Jesse was able to gather plenty of ammunition as he forced his way through the blockades.

The lone SPARTAN had been searching for hours, trying to find any means of escape off the space station. His search route was littered with bodies the of the Covenant troops that had attempted to stop him.

A group of Elites entered into a hallway.

"The demon should have been around here somewhere." One snarled.

"The last reports we got proved that it should have passed through here." A white armored special ops scout piped up.

"Has there been any word from our brothers?"

"The fire-team several corridors ahead of us have not reported sighting the demon. So it must be within range of us."

"At last. We will trap it and the High Councilor will reward us all. Our time of glory has arrived." The lead Elite clenched his long fingers into a tight fist.

The other Elites gave enthusiastic roars and pumped the air with their fists. All of a sudden the SPARTAN dropped from a shadow on the ceiling thirteen meters above the aliens. He fired his carbine into the back of several of the Elite's heads. Five out of the nine dropped dead. The SPARTAN landed on one Elite's back, severing its spine. The other Elites raised their plasma rifles but Jesse was already making his next move. He grabbed a plasma grenade from the Elite he had landed on and stuck it to the lead Elite. It bellowed angrily moments before being engulfed by the explosion. The remaining Elites were either destroyed as well or thrown into the cold hard walls of the hallway.

Jesse reloaded his carbine and gathered up some more ammunition. He had climbed up the wall using only the corner of the corridor to support himself. It was a tactic he had seen Linda use several times when sniping out her targets.

Keeping his carbine raised he moved to the next corridor. It split into a four-way path. He was debating which direction to take when he heard a furious roar behind him. He spun around with his weapon still raised and saw another group of black ops Elites come across their fallen comrades. Jesse darted down the left passageway and through two more empty halls. After he passed through the second set of doors he destroyed the lock with a plasma grenade. It had slowed down several of the patrols that had chased him earlier, so why not now.

"Demon!" The deep curdled voice caused the SPARTAN to jump. Jesse whirled around and got a good first look at his surroundings. He was in a large chamber about the size of the mess hall at his home back on Reach. It was fairly lit with lots of holograms of Elites along the walls. In the middle of the room stood an enormous Elite, probably even bigger than the prince. He donned silver armor and had on an even larger and more elaborate crown than that of the Honor Guards. He stood up from a circle in the middle of the room which gave everything an eerie purple glow. Jesse aimed at the Elite's head and fired three shots. The Elite's shields flared but remained intact. The SPARTAN finished off the clip and still the shields protected the Elite. Jesse reloaded the carbine and was about to fire again when the Elite raised a hand.

"Wait."

"Give me one good reason split-face." Jesse took a step towards the Elite.

"I am guessing it is safe to assume you do not understand why you are here." The SPARTAN remained silent. "Perhaps I may be allowed to jog your memory." He walked over to a small console and picked up a tennis-ball-sized sphere. He looked over his shoulder at the SPARTAN. "Feel free to come closer. If you wish to know the truth behind why we have decided to execute you. Perhaps it will help you come to terms with the fact that you won't make it off this command station alive." The SPARTAN didn't move. "Very well then." The Elite marched closer to the SPARTAN with its hand with the sphere outstretched. He got within two meters and Jesse fired again. The Elite stopped. "I suppose that this is as far as I go." His finger slid over the metal surface and a holographic image appeared. It showed a Covenant Zealot on the battlefield surrounded by fellow warriors. "This is my son. The First Prince of the Elites. He was destined to join the Covenant's high council. But because of you, he was unable to." The Zealot fell to the ground after four armor-piercing bullets tore through its arms and legs. Jesse watched in dead silence as the SPARTAN in clad MJOLNIR armor walked up and began unloading bullets into the Elite. "Such an atrocity can only be punished with death." The Elite continued. "But to kill my other son. The Second Prince of the Elites is unforgivable. You will be stripped of your armor and given the most painful and humiliating death imaginable and your corpse will be paraded throughout the Covenant."

"So I'm here because I took something of yours huh?" Jesse's finger tapped the carbine's trigger. "Let me tell you this. You took something I had away from me and now I'm just returning the favor. One hundred fold." Jesse could feel his body temperature rise as he remembered the little girl from so many years ago. The little girl he had rescued and worked so hard to protect. The little girl these merciless bastards couldn't be bothered to spare.

"You humans are a disease upon the stars. You all deserve to die. You will all die anyways so you might as well get it done and over with."

"You son-of-a-bitch." Jesse snarled and fired several more rounds at the Elite. The Elite's shields flared then it disappeared. In its place floated a sphere the size of a softball. "What the hell?"

Just then the real Draetuse lunged from behind one of the Elite holograms. He had been camouflaged so the SPARTAN wouldn't notice him. He drew his energy sword and tackled the SPARTAN to the floor. Jesse grabbed the Elite's arm and fought to keep it from pressing the heated plasma blade into him like his son had. But the Elite Councilor began to overpower the SPARTAN'S already wounded shoulder. At the very last second Jesse thrust a knee up and knocked the Elite forward just enough to slide down between his legs. He turned and brandished his own energy sword.

Draetuse swung and Jesse blocked the strike with the sword. The plasma screeched and hissed as the two forces collided. Draetuse withdrew and attacked again. Jesse was on the defensive. This Elite was extremely pissed off; beyond the point of no return. The alien charged again and Jesse blocked its attack. Draetuse grabbed the SPARTAN and Jesse circled his arm until he got the Elite's arm in a close-quarters lock. The two glared at each other and Draetuse attempted to bite the human. Jesse fell back and Draetuse attacked again. This time Jesse's shoulder gave way under the blow. He jerked to the side as the Elite's energy sword cut into his left shoulder guard and into his flesh. Draetuse followed up with another strike and lanced a blow across the SPARTAN'S chest armor. Jesse staggered back and shrugged off the pain in his arm.

Jesse waited until the Elite rushed him again. The two warriors clashed blades and battled for supremacy. Jesse fought, using his good arm while Draetuse struggled against the determined SPARTAN. When Jesse was sure he had the upper hand he grabbed the plasma rifle on his leg and raised it. He fired several plasma bolts but they sizzled against an energy shield. Not the normal Elite energy shield, but an arm-mounted shield generator.

"What! Another shield?" Draetuse broke free of the SPARTAN'S blade lock and cut the plasma rifle in half, almost taking Jesse's arm along with it. Jesse stumbled back and raised his sword to defend himself.

Draetuse suddenly then drew another energy sword.

"Shit!" Jesse cursed to himself.

The Elite lunged forward and swung its deadly blades. Jesse rolled to the side and received another laceration across his chest plate. Draetuse curled his mandibles into a smile.

"It's time you died demon." He made an X with his blades then charged. Jesse stepped to the side and the blades missed him by a mere inch. Draetuse swung his arm back and the SPARTAN snapped the elbow joint. The Elite howled in pain and attempted to impale the SPARTAN with the sword again. For once, the Elite was faster. Jesse side-stepped but Draetuse managed to cut into the SPARTAN'S side, leaving a long menacing laceration.

Jesse stumbled back into a defending stance. He held his sword in one hand and his side with the other. Blood trickled onto the floor and Jesse's bio-signs began to go erratic. His blood pressure was far beyond normal limits for any human and pushing the breaking point for a SPARTAN. His heart rate spiked through the roof as adrenaline flooded his body. For a moment things began to get fuzzy again and he fell to one knee.

Draetuse walked up to the wavering SPARTAN. His broken arm hung limp at his side. He raised his sword to deliver the final fatal blow. Jesse took a deep breath, then sprang up. He caught Draetuse's arm and delivered a stunning knee to the Elite's exposed abdomen. The alien buckled over and the SPARTAN delivered a hard upper cut and knocked the Elite Councilor's head up. Jesse grabbed a plasma grenade on his belt and armed it. He stuck it to the Elite's head and executed a powerful kick that sent the Elite bouncing across the floor. The explosion occurred three second later and the force sent the SPARTAN flying back into the boor. The impact caused the door to dent and blood to spatter across the cold metal surface.

After a long moment, Jesse shook his head. He was alive, but just barely. His body was beginning to ache as he grabbed a small canister of bio-foam. He plastered it on his side and let it set after a couple minutes. His side burned as did the rest of his torso. His arm would be okay for the time being. But he would need to get off this space station first or he would run the risk of bleeding to death.

The SPARTAN rose to his feet and gasped for breath. He heard a noise on the other side of the doors and dove forward. Moments later an explosion blew the door open and five black ops Grunts waddled into the room carrying fuel rod guns. Jesse looked around. His carbine was halfway between him and them. He armed a grenade and stuck it to the nearest Grunt. The alien barked in alarm and dropped its weapon. It began clawing at its head and soon the entire team was consumed in a blast of light. Jesse rushed over and grabbed his carbine.

"It's the demon! Get him!" An Elite roared. Jesse backed into the room and sprinted through a door on the far end of the chamber.

The Elites began to follow but a Grunt called out to them. The block ops Elites stopped the pursuit and walked back to where the Grunt was standing. Laying on the floor, surrounded by drying blood, was the remains of the Elite Councilor's body. Nothing more than a forearm and a leg and a half.

"The Councilor." One of the Elites knelt down and picked up the arm. "The demon murdered him."

A moment of silence passed and the Grunts began to grow nervous.

Suddenly the nearby hallways erupted with the anguished roars of the Elites. The Grunts shrank back into a corner and began trembling. They had never seen their superior officers behave in such a way.

"Brothers! Prepare for battle!" The leader bellowed. "The Councilor is dead. Murdered by the barbaric demon! We will restore the honor of the Elites by finding the demon and killing it!" His squad-mates roared in unison and activated their energy swords.

"Let the hunt begin!" Another Elite snarled and his mandibles clicked excitedly.

"What's the situation Cortana?" The Master Chief asked.

"The Covenant Battle Net is a mess!" The AI replied. "Before it was just busy with orders to incoming ships and troops. but now...it's just lunacy!"

"What's going on?" Kimberly stepped forward.

"It seems that your team leader just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble. From what I've been able to uncover, several years ago when defending the Sigma Octanus system, Jesse killed a Covenant Zealot." Cortana brought up the holographic video taken of the attack on planet Octanus 2.

"Oh no." Kelly groaned. "I remember that day."

"Normally this probably would have been overlooked." Cortana continued. "But as it turns out, that Elite was a prince. The first prince of the Elite nation to be exact. Heir to the throne of Draetuse, an Elite High Councilor. The second prince, Larranus, has been plotting his revenge ever since that day. They brought Gold Leader here to exact their revenge on him."

"That would definitely explain a lot." Fred nodded.

"But as you know, Jesse killed the second prince and has been running amuck throughout that command station. It seems that just a couple minutes ago he encountered the High Councilor and killed him."

"That's our leader." Kimberly clasped her fist tightly on her rifle's handle.

"But knowing the Covenant, doing that probably set one hell of a fire under their asses." John muttered.

"We need to get Gold Leader out of there." Cortana restated. "But he's too deep inside the station to reach from this ship."

"I guess then we need to go in ourselves." John gripped the handle of his MA5B.

"Not necessarily. Not yet anyway. I'm going to try and get through to him VIA the command system. Gold Two. I need you to fly us in and land."

"You got it Cortana." Dan's status light winked green and he steered the phantom closer towards the Destroyer's Invocation.

Jesse huffed down the halls. His body felt like it was on fire. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath and reloaded his carbine. The last hours had been brutal. The Elites had come at him with so much more energy than before. They wanted blood and they wanted it bad. He had encountered several barricades of black ops Elites with stationary guns blocking his escape and had been forced to find another route.

"C'mon Jesse. You're a SPARTAN. Keep moving!" He coaxed himself. "SPARTANS...don't...give up...until...the job...is done." He slammed hard against a door. It was locked. Another dead end. Soon the squad of Elites that had been tracking him would catch up. And he would have another fire fight on his hands again.

All at once a holographic panel beside the door flickered. Jesse jumped back, expecting the door to open and reveal another squad of Covenant troops. Instead the panel kept blinking. He stared at it for a long hard moment. There was a pattern to the flashes. It was morse code.

_SPARTAN-029. Do you read. This is Cortana. If you are receiving this message, please respond on channel A-000536. You may need to boost your frequency radius to make contact. Again... SPARTAN-029..._

"Cortana?" Jesse whispered to himself. He ran a quick systems check on his armor. His shields were gone again thanks to Draetuse's energy sword. But his communicator was still working perfectly. The channel was not for open communication but was used when silence was needed. He flashed his status light.

The panel on the wall disappeared and the door opened. The adjacent corridor was empty, for now. Jesse moved through. A moment later a green status light winked on his HUD. It was Cortana again.

_You need to get to the station's slipspace reactor and destroy it. It will keep the Covenant from following us once we come in to extract you. Cooling system for the slipspace core runs through the same room. Destroy the cooling system and the entire station should blow. I am sending you a topographic map of the station. You should be able to handle the situation from there. Do you copy._

Jesse straightened up. He found it hard to believe his team was so close by. But knowing that, he felt a new power swell up inside of him. He flashed his status light again and brought up the map of the station. It was quite some distance from his current position but he didn't care. He had a new mission; and it was time to get down to business.

He set his course and took off running, ignoring the pain in his side. He passed through two more corridors before encountering another wave of resistance. The Elites charged through the doors with Jackals in close pursuit. Jesse emptied his carbine and five of the Elite's dropped to the ground. The last Elite raised its sword but it was no match for the SPARTAN'S lightning fast reactions. Jesse stepped in close and crushed the alien's throat with the butt of the carbine. The Elite gargled and choked as it fell on its back. The Jackals raised their rifles and fired. Jesse jumped to the side as the beams shot past. He bounced off the wall and drew his energy sword. The lead Jackal raised its gun up only to get the weapon split in half. The other two dropped their weapons and turned to run. Jesse stuck a plasma grenade to one of them as the doors shut behind them. A slightly muffled explosion could be heard as Jesse knelt down to pick up the beam rifles the Jackals had dropped. These large guns looked like they were the Covenant equivalent of a sniper rifle, yet much less attractive. He attached the beam rifle to his back and continued on his route.

"Good, he's on the move." Cortana reported with a pleased tone.

"Is he okay?" Kimberly asked trying to keep herself composed.

"Well, he answered the message and is moving through the station at a considerable pace. So I guess its safe to assume he's okay. Or alive at least."

"What's our next move Chief?" Fred asked.

"We wait." John answered. "If he's not able to make it back then we'll have to go in after him. But if he does come through, then we will inform him of where we plan to extract him." He looked over at Gold Team.

"We understand the risks sir." Kimberly saluted. "If we were to fill him in now, the Covenant might intercept our transmission and decide to turn us into a pile of scrap."

"Hm." John nodded approvingly. He had been worried about Gold Team losing their composure. But seeing them beginning to act like SPARTANS again made him feel much better about the situation. They could get this mission done after all.

Jesse stepped over the fallen Elite. He was just outside the slipspace core chamber according to his map. There had been some heavy resistance just outside the door, but they had been dealt away with.

Jesse checked over his ammunition. He had four plasma grenades and ample ammunition for the carbine. He checked the monitor on the beam rifle. The core was eighty-six percent charged. Jesse put the beam rifle away and shouldered his carbine before entering the room.

The doors opened with a loud hiss. The core chamber that had once been filled with Engineers was now filled with heavily armed Covenant troops. Every head turned to face the lone SPARTAN standing in the doorway. No one moved a muscle.

Suddenly an Elite raised its energy sword high and roared. It lowered its arm to see a plasma grenade stuck to it and shrieked in surprise. The blast managed to catch three other Elites and a small squad of black ops Grunts. Shields flared and Jesse opened fire. The already weakened Elites were the first to drop. Jesse hurled another plasma grenade into the crowd and downed the near survivors.

"Kill the demon!" An Elite ordered.

Jesse turned his head to see an Elite standing behind several Grunts. A Grunt on the left armed a plasma grenade and reared back to throw it. Jesse put a round through its head and the grenade stuck to one of its teammates. The stocky little alien squawked in alarm and began panicking.

"Get it off me!" He squealed. The Elite dove out of the way as the grenade detonated. His shields flared and Jesse emptied his clip into the back of its head.

Off to the side a trio of Grunts raised their fuel rod guns. Jesse rolled to the side as they fired and the radiation bolts screamed past his head. The light was blinding and his faceplate had to polarize. Jesse rolled over and over, firing at the Grunts. The trio fell dead and another fire team moved in. Those Grunts fell dead in a matter of seconds as well. Three Elites rushed in with energy swords gleaming. Jesse armed his sword and blocked the first attack. He Kicked the Elite hard in the stomach and it doubled over. The Spartan plunged his blade into the back of its head and fired the carbine with his other hand at the next attacker. The Elite's shields disappeared and Jesse put one last round through its head. The last Elite lunged for a suicidal strike. Jesse barely managed to jump up and out of the way of the blade. He thrust his sword arm out and split the Elite straight down the middle before they hit the floor.

A roar came from the far end of the chamber. Two Hunters charged forward with fuel rod guns preparing to fire. Jesse side-stepped as the first Hunter fired. The radiation blast burned deep into the wall behind him. Jesse grabbed a nearby Elite and threw him in front of the second radiation blast. The Elite's shields gave way and it flew back in a spray of burning flesh and armor.

A Grunt fired a round from its fuel rod gun and just missed the SPARTAN. Jesse felt the prickles of heat on his back and crushed the Grunt's skull with the butt of the carbine.

The Hunter pair circled him. Their spines were raised on end in an eager bloodlust fashion. The first Hunter attacked from behind. It charged in and swung its massive shield. Jesse ducked under the blow and leaped as high as he could. The Hunter snarled angrily when the SPARTAN planted his feet in his face and used it as a spring board to launch himself over the other Hunter. In midair, Jesse dropped a plasma grenade onto the second Hunter's back, just above its exposed midsection, and rolled away once he hit the ground. The grenade went off and Hunter's torso was blown forward away from its legs and into his partner.

The first Hunter bellowed. Jesse wasn't sure if it was mad or distressed, but he really didn't care. The Hunter splashed through the puddle of its partner's orange gore and charged straight for the SPARTAN. Jesse turned and ran back for the wall. As he did in the detention block, he ran straight up the wall and backflipped off. But the Hunter's rage had made it faster. As Jesse landed and moved in with his energy sword armed, the Hunter turned and swung its heavy shield. Jesse caught the blow square in the chest and was sent flying backwards.

He sat up and shook his head. He was extremely dizzy. He felt his ribs were cracked as well as his chest wall. If his armor hadn't been there, he may as well have been punched in half.

The Hunter charged again. Jesse armed another plasma grenade and stuck it to the Hunter's shield. The blast was enough to stun the beast and gave the SPARTAN an open target. In a blind flash, Jesse switched his carbine for the beam rifle and took aim. He pulled the trigger and with a loud click and a bright flash of light, the particle beam cut straight through the Hunter's abdomen. The Beast fell like a tree tumbling to the ground, dead. Jesse got to his feet and tried to stand up. A tremor ripped through his body and he clutched at his chest. It was nearly unbearable to stand upright anymore, but he forced himself to do so.

He limped over to a fuel rod gun that a Grunt had dropped and lifted it. It was slightly heavier than a SPNKR launcher but carried five rounds instead of two. Jesse aimed the cannon at the core in the middle of the room and emptied the gun. The Radioactive bolts hit with bright green explosions and burned deep into the core itself. Next were the plasma coils stationed around the core. The Covenant couldn't have operated their slipspace generator with less than three of the seven plasma coils in tact. But the SPARTAN wasn't about to take any chances. He destroyed them all. The explosions quaked throughout the entire station and the SPARTAN quickly ducked back into the labyrinth of alien corridors as the core began to melt down.

"Good. SPARTAN-029 has destroyed the command station's slipspace core and cooling system." Cortana reported. "He's on the move towards the outer reaches of the station."

"Alright then." The Master Chief sprang to attention immediately. "How long do we have until this place blows?"

"Fifteen minutes and counting Chief." Cortana replied.

"Will he be able to make it to us in that amount of time?" Fred asked. Dan looked over his shoulder from the phantom's controls. John could tell he was concerned about his best friend even though he couldn't see his face.

"That all depends on SPARTAN-029." John said sternly. "Cortana. Put me through to Gold Lead."

"I'm on it Chief."

"Die! Die! Die!" A Grunt squealed and fired its fuel rod gun. The red SPARTAN dodged the blobs of radiation with ease and put another round from the carbine between the Grunt's eyes. He fired into it's methane suit and the explosion sent his squad-mates scattering. Jesse picked them off easily with a few well placed shots. He was about to sprint up the ramp when three Elite's opened fire from plasma turrets stationed at the top. The SPARTAN rolled to the side and behind a small barricade as the spikes of plasma melted the floor where he had stood a moment before.

Jesse gasped for breath as he switched his carbine for the beam rifle. He jumped out and used the scope to zoom in on his targets. He dodged the superheated plasma fire and fired twice. Two of the Elites fell dead with burn holes in their elongated heads. Jesse cursed as super heated steam rushed out of several vents in the beam rifle. Apparently these weapons could overheat as well. The last Elite snarled and fired. Jesse lurched forward, just barely escaping being vaporized. He hurled a plasma grenade and stuck it to the turret. The Elite roared and hopped off the seat. He didn't get more than a step away before the grenade detonated and sent his tattered body flying.

The SPARTAN puffed to the top of the ramp. He switched his overheated beam rifle back and had his carbine leveled as he opened the door. Up ahead was a long bridge with several three-meter tall pillars standing in pairs along its sides. He could see the entire Covenant city past the railings and the fleet of warships beyond the buildings. He was deeper inside Covenant territory than he had imagined. He sighed and suddenly the burning pain irrupted within him again. He gasped for breath and fell back against one of the pillars. He shook his head in disgust. There was no way he could make it off this space station alive. He wanted to but had blatantly ignored the reality of the situation. He was surrounded by blood-thirsty aliens with only one way out which he had no idea where to find it.

Jesse was busy pondering over the hopelessness of the situation when he heard the sound of doors opening. He looked down the far end of the bridge and saw a column of black ops Elites appear. They hadn't spotted him yet and he scooted behind the pillar to keep himself hidden.

"SPARTAN-029! Come in! This is SPARTAN-117! Do you read me?"

Jesus!" Jesse gasped and jerked in alarm. Another wave of pain washed over him and he groaned. "Chief? Is that you? Or am I hearing things?"

Back on the phantom the other SPARTANS keyed into the COM-channel.

"He sounds a little delirious." Kelly whispered to Kimberly who only nodded.

"Listen up Jesse. Cortana says that you have less than ten minutes to get to us before that reactor goes critical. Once that thing blows, so will this space station and every ship in this godforsaken fleet. And we need to be launched by then."

"Sir. Yes sir." Jesse groaned. His vision was fading again and he shook his head. "You can count on me to get the job done sir."

There was a slight pause. "I know you will SPARTAN." John didn't want to come all that way just to leave a teammate behind when the going got tough. But he had a mission to complete and a team to take care of. He recalled CPO Mendez talking to him on the day he left the SPARTAN program. _"A leader must be willing to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths. You do this because your duty to the UNSC supersedes your duty to yourself or even your crew. It is acceptable to spend their lives if necessary. It is not acceptable, however, to waste those lives."_ John wasn't fully sure what he was doing. He was pushing close to wasting the lives of his teammates just to pursue one captured SPARTAN. But it had been for the sake of humanity to ensure that the UNSC's greatest secrets didn't fall into enemy hands. Which was was it? Wasting? Or spending?"

"Hey. Chief?" SPARTAN-029 wheezed over the COM-channel and brought the Master Chief back to combat alert status.

"Go ahead Jesse."

"In the extremely unlikely event that I don't reach you guys in time. I would just like to say it's been an honor to serve you Chief. And what a pleasure it's been to fight alongside you and my fellow SPARTANS for all these years."

"Save it for when you get here would you?" Dan interrupted. "Time's a wasting!"

Jesse gave a weak chuckle. "Roger that Gold Two. Thanks. Gold Lead...out." He switched off the team COM and opened up the private channel only he and Kimberly used. "Hey Kimsey. I'll be alright. I promise."

Behind her faceplate Kimberly's eyes narrowed as if they were ready to start crying. Her fists clenched so tight that her shields flared for a moment. After that she took a deep breath and sighed.

When she didn't respond Jesse smiled to himself and clicked off the COM-link.

He raised his head up as he heard the sounds of hoof-steps drawing closer. He checked over his carbine and loaded a fresh clip into it.

"Okay SPARTAN! Time to do the impossible! Get the hell out of here!" He sprang from his hiding place and fired the carbine. The Elites snarled in shock as several of them dropped to the floor; dead. Jesse emptied his clip as he moved forward and ducked behind another pillar as the black ops opened up with their own carbines. He armed a plasma grenade and hurled it from his hiding place. There was an explosion and the SPARTAN burst out of hiding again. He strafed the blinded Elites and ended several more of them before ducking back behind another pillar. All at once a NAV-point appeared on his HUD. It was the extraction point where the Chief was with the other SPARTANS. But it was several hundred kilometers bellow his position.

"Crap!" He cursed to himself and fired again after a split-second reload. He hefted a grenade and vaporized the remaining black ops. He was about to press forward when a pair of Hunters barreled through the open doorway at the far end of the bridge. "Shit!" He strafed to the side rail and looked down. The Hunters fired their fuel rod guns and the SPARTAN jumped. The Hunters looked over the edge of the rail as the SPARTAN landed in a tree several hundred meters bellow. Branches snapped like toothpicks and Jesse hit the floor hard, nearly knocking the wind out of himself. The fall would have killed any normal human but thanks to his bio-augmentation and pressurized static gel in his armor, he had survived.

Once on his feet he sprinted through another set of blast doors. He turned the corner and gunned down several Elites and a trio of Grunts heading his way. He made another turn and entered the next chamber. In the middle of the room was a huge statue of an alien. Not an Elite but of some alien he had never seen before. He made sure his HUD caught the image of the alien. Upon entering the next corridor he met another throng of Grunts, all carrying fuel rod guns. Jesse skidded to a halt and dropped several of the bewildered aliens before any of them could group together an attack. He exchanged his carbine again for the beam rifle and cut through several of the stocky little aliens. As usual, they panicked and fled. Jesse dropped the beam rifle and grabbed two fuel rod guns. He grunted beneath the strain and gritted his teeth against the pain.

"How in the hell does Luke do this all the time?" He muttered to himself. He darted through another doorway and head long into another Covenant blockade.

"Alright Cortana. Open her up." John muttered. The rear hatch of the phantom opened up and several of the SPARTANS jumped out. Linda and Leslie scanned the area for any signs of Covenant troops. The landing pads were empty. Only two other phantoms remained on the docks around them; deserted.

"Do you think he's going to make it?" Fred whispered to Kelly. He was promptly answered with an elbow.

"Shut up! Don't jinx him!"

"He's not on the same level as we are Chief." Cortana called from the phantom. "Oh!" She gasped in surprise.

"What is it?"

"Never mind. Cancel that. He's on our level. But that's gotta hurt him. I'm surprised he's still moving after a fall like that."

"Get ready SPARTANS! Here they come!" The Master Chief barked. Green Team. Fall back inside the phantom and prepare for take-off! Gold Team you're backup for Blue Team!"

"Yes sir!" The SPARTANS acknowledged. They took their positions and readied their weapons. Linda and Leslie continued to search for any possible target within range of their scopes. Nothing moved.

"Here he comes!" Cortana warned. A split second later an earth-shattering explosion blew the doors right out of the wall.

"Get down!" The Mater Chief yelled and the SPARTANS dove to the side as the two-ton doors crashed to the floor. "Is everyone okay?" John looked around as the cloud of dust began to blow away from the door. Thirty acknowledgment lights winked green.

"I see him! Down that walkway!" Linda called in her cold sniper voice. Every SPARTAN turned to see. Out of another cloud of dust burst a SPARTAN in dirty red armor. It was gashed and burned and covered in purple alien blood. SPARTAN-029 sprinted at top speed towards them.

"Get that ship primed and ready to go!" The Mater Chief ordered.

"I'm on it sir!" Dan called and hopped back into the phantom.

"Sir. We've got more company." Linda reported.

"How many do you count?" John turned back to his teammate rushing towards them.

"Sir. All of them."

Sure enough, Elites and Jackals swarmed out onto the pathway towards the docking pad. Plasma bolts fried the air and came within mere inches of the red SPARTAN.

"Give him some covering fire!" John shouted and the SPARTANS opened up. Elites and Jackals dropped but the plasma fire continued. They weren't going to let their prey get away. Not this time.

"Come on Jesse! You can make it!" Kelly shouted over the rattle of her rifle.

Jesse dug down deep and got another wind. He pushed himself to go faster than he'd ever done before. He moved in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the plasma bolts around him.

"Almost there!" Fred called.

All at once a black ops Elite pushed his way to the front lines and fired its beam rifle the beam cut through the air and straight through the right shoulder of SPARTAN-029. Jesse stumbled and almost lost his stride. The hole in his shoulder was the size of a golf ball and it hurt worse than the bio-augmentation surgery. Another beam grazed his shoulder just above the hole and he fell to the floor.

Behind him the Elite stood tall with a triumphant roar and raised a fist high. "The demon is dead! I killed it! My salvation is assured!" A crack from Leslie's sniper rifle silenced the beast for good.

"He's not going to make it." Will exclaimed.

"I'm on it!" Kelly lurched from her position and rushed towards the fallen SPARTAN with Kimberly not far behind. Jesse was fifty yards out but the Kelly, being the fastest, covered the ground in three seconds and Kimberly in five. Kelly gave covering fire for Kimberly as she dragged her team leader back across towards the phantom platform.

A Zealot bellowed and the translation rang in the SPARTANS' helmets moments later.

"More demons! Slay them all!"

"Chief!" Kimberly called.

"Don't worry, we've got you covered!" The Master Chief assured her and moved up along side them. Fred, Linda, Leslie and Will followed and helped drag SPARTAN-029 back across the now bloodstained floor.

"They're bringing in Hunters!" Will warned.

"I see them. Their done for." Linda replied and shot both Hunters before they could attack.

"More heavy artillery!" John shouted as Grunts with fuel rod guns made their way onto the scene.

"Not if I can help it!" Jesse suddenly turned around, grabbed his carbine and began firing as he was being dragged by his partner. He wasn't going down without a fight. That was for sure.

"C'mon Kim! Hand him aboard!" Isaac, SPARTAN-039, called from the phantom. Kimberly helped her team leader up who promptly began providing the rest of Gold Team and Blue Team with covering fire.

"Get us out of here!" John shouted once everyone was onboard.

"And not a moment too soon Chief." Cortana pointed out. "Two minutes! It's gunna be close!" The phantom lifted off the platform, leaving thousands of angry aliens behind. "Banshees! Trying to cut us off!"

"Shoot them down!" The Master Chief barked.

"Sorry Chief!" Dan called back over his shoulder. "No guns remember."

"Then mow them down. We need to get the hell out of here!"

"My pleasure sir!" Dan snickered and pushed the phantom's boosters. The banshees turned to fire but were crushed by the massive dropship ten times their size. The force jolted the SPARTANS but they all remained standing.

"We'll jump as soon as I get our original trajectory plotted."

"Make it quick Cortana."

The phantom pulled away from the space station and the fleet of Covenant warships.

"Slipspace coordinates set. Ready to jump in thirty seconds."

"I don't think we're gunna have thirty seconds!" Fred shouted and pointed out the port view. Outside, the warships slowly began to come to life. Their lateral lines glowed with fiery plasma as their weapons heated.

"If they hit us, we're dead." Kelly gasped.

"Let's just hope their aim is off today." Jesse groaned.

"T minus ten."

Slowly the warships began to back away from the space station.

"Three...Two...One..." Then a brilliant explosion went off. The Destroyers Invocation began to change from a purple-silver to a metallic orange as explosions irrupted from within its shell. Just before they disappeared into slipspace the Master Chief caught sight of the colossal explosion that turned the darkness of space white and reduced the entire Covenant armada to space dust.

"Wow. Now that was fun." Dan sighed as Cortana took control over the phantom again.

"But let's not do it again any time soon." John added.

"No argument there Chief." Jesse saluted then gave a SPARTAN smile. "It's good to see you all again though sir."

"You'd better be glad to see us." Kimberly snapped. "We almost thought of leaving you to find your own way home."

Jesse laughed slightly. "Yeah. But I guess you guys just missed me too much."

"Maybe just a little." Kelly chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Jesse groaned and collapsed to the floor in a spatter of blood. "Oh god! What have I done!" Kelly gasped in horror.

"He's wounded!" Kimberly exclaimed. "We have to help him!" She reached for Jesse's med-kits that should have been in his utility belt. Nothing was there.

"Hey, it's nothing more than a flesh wound." Jesse coughed. He could taste more blood in his mouth.

"Don't be ridiculous." Kimberly snapped. "You fell over after being tapped and you're bleeding all over the place."

"Let me have a look at him." Cortana called from the data slot.

"You guys worry...too...much..." Jesse was starting to trail off. "I'll be...just...fine..." His voice slipped to a whisper.

"Jesse? Jesse!" Kimberly shouted on their private channel so the others wouldn't hear her. "C'mon! Wake up!" She checked her leader's bio-signs. They were slowly dropping; almost flat-lined.

"Kimberly." John knelt down beside her. "Lift his head so I can insert Cortana."

"Yes sir." Kimberly nodded and lifted her team leader's head in her arms. John felt his glove pass over the AI port at the back of his teammate's helmet. He slipped Cortana inside and in an instant her voice rang loud in their ears.

"Dear god in heaven!" She exclaimed. "It's a mess in here!

"What is it Cortana?" John asked.

"No time Chief! We need to help him right now! I need everyone to inject their canisters of bio-foam into him immediately! We must stop this bleeding and dress that plasma wound. The SPARTANS filled their teammate's armor with bio-foam and used the rest of their medical supplies to dress the burn hole the beam rifle had made. When everything had been done to stabilize the unconscious SPARTAN, Cortana was put back into the phantom's data port. "That was close Chief. Another minute or two and we might have lost him."

"Is it that bad?" John asked as he looked down at his brother SPARTAN.

"Let me put it this way. The bio-foam and that armor is all that is keeping him together right now. Once we get back to UNSC-controlled space, we'll need to find a way to operate on him without killing him in the process. Even moving him is going to be hazardous for him."

"I see." John nodded. He found himself thinking for a long hard time. What came next was probably the hardest decision he would ever have to make in his military career.

**1400 Hours, September 17, 2541 (military calendar)/ Location-Unknown, UNSC Cruiser Remembrance **

Jesse groaned at the bright lights. His eyelids slowly lifted open, just enough to look around the room. He was in the extensive care section of the sickbay. It was similar to that onboard the Flawed Legacy. Bio-monitors were hooked up to him and he took a few moments to read over some of the charts. Massive blood transfusions, several organ replacements, numerous broken bones and countless other surgeries.

The SPARTAN sank back into the mattress. The escape from the Covenant space station had all seemed like a dream. He knew it was real, but the blood loss had made everything seem hazy. After pondering over the events, he grew restless. He sat up with a great deal of effort and slowly rose to his feet. He unhooked his monitors and trudged towards the door. As soon as he opened it he nearly bumped into a SPARTAN.

"Kim?" Jesse could always recognize her even in her MJOLNIR armor.

"Jess, you shouldn't be up right now." She said in a scolding tone of voice. "You need to rest and recover. Your body is still in bad shape."

"I feel fine Kim." Jesse sighed. But he had to admit he was feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous. "I just need to walk around and clear my head."

Kimberly didn't move for a long minute then sighed. "I swear, I spoil you."

"I'm the same with you Kimsey."

"Don't make me pull rank on you, sir. Just because you're my CO doesn't mean I won't set you in your place when it's for your own good."

Jesse gave a wheezing laugh. "Understood. Sir."

The two SPARTANS walked slowly down the halls of the UNSC ship. They stopped to look out at the stars overlooking an unknown planet's surface. Everything seemed quiet. Peaceful.

"So." Kimberly started. "What was it like? Being kidnapped by the Covenant?"

"Not as bad as you'd think." Jesse coughed. "At least for me anyways. They, on the other hand, will probably think twice before trying to kidnap another SPARTAN alive."

Kimberly smiled behind her faceplate. "Well. We're glad to have you back. Again."

"Again?"

"That's right. You don't know what day it is." She turned towards Jesse who only stared at her. "On this day. Twenty-one years ago, if you can believe it. You came back to us. Remember."

Jesse smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I do. It was the happiest day of my life so far."

"Same here." Kimberly felt her cheeks flush.

Jesse cocked his head sideways slightly. It hurt. "What's wrong Kim?"

"It's nothing sir." Kimberly sighed.

"C'mon Kim. I've known you long enough to figure out for myself when something is wrong." Kimberly remained silent. "Is something wrong with the other SPARTANS? The Chief? Cortana? Speaking of which, where are they?"

"The others are all back home on Reach." Kimberly muttered.

"So where does that put us?"

Kimberly was silent for a moment. "The Chief. Had us reassigned."

Jesse's eyebrows jumped. "Reassigned?"

Kimberly nodded. "He said that Gold Team stood out too much from the other SPARTANS since the Covenant managed to single you out and capture you. He said that it would be likely that the Covenant would focus their efforts on destroying us and would thus put the team in danger. And..."

Jesse silenced her with a raised hand. "Whatever the John's reason's, I will follow his command. We don't call him Master Chief just because of his rank. It's because he wants us all to survive this war. Live to fight on. Live to complete another mission. That's always been his motto. If he thinks reassigning Gold Team is for the best, then we'll just have to make due with that."

"Jess..." Kimberly's voice was lower than a whisper but Jesse's SPARTAN hearing detected her voice without difficulty. Jesse tilted his neck to the side and popped his vertebrae. Kimberly noticed that even without his MJOLNIR armor on, he looked taller. More confident. Just the way he had all those years ago during training.

"Well, Kimsey. What do you say?"

Kimberly sighed and nodded. "C'mon let's go down and check out our new home."


	5. Chapter 5

**1100 Hours, August 17, 2552 (military calendar)/ Serpentine Omega System, Planet Seraph 2 (Two Weeks Before the Fall of Reach)**

Spartan-029 and Spartan-049 slipped through the alien forest without a sound. Despite their half-ton MJOLNIR armor, both were experts at stealth and keeping a low profile. Up ahead was a squad of Elites searching the forest. The near eight-foot tall aliens carried plasma rifles and carbines to deal away with the intruders. That is, if they found them.

Gold Team had landed planet-side two days ago. This planet was Covenant territory. Not their home world, but it was good enough for the big shots at the Office of Naval Intelligence. For the past ten years ONI had set a new campaign in motion. It was decided that it was time to start forcing the tide of the Human- Covenant war in the human race's favor. That meant testing more new weapons technology, searching for new worlds to colonize, and taking the fight to numerous Covenant targets. These targets included warship construction yards, material mining facilities and weapons manufacturing plants. Now the Spartans were aiming to take a new planet they had discovered far beyond colonial space.

A UNSC freighter had dropped the Spartans off from slipspace in a prowler-class stealth ship. They had been given enough munitions and supplies for weeks and the Spartans intended to use them to their full potential. The Covenant had not detected them or had not shown any signs of detecting the human craft entering through slipspace or landing on the planet. And ever so smoothly and silently, the Spartans began to tear apart the Covenant ground installments. So far they had encountered three command posts which could have passed for an entire UNSC carrier. As usual, the Covenant's warships stationed themselves around the outposts. Each ship suspended itself about thirty meters off the ground which made stealth an even greater necessity. Armed with FENRIS warheads, Gold Team had managed to completely obliterate the ships all together after making sure that all communications were disabled across the planet. That was where Sophitia came in.

Sophitia was the younger sister of Cortana who remained with John-117. She looked nothing like her sister but had similar traits. She reminded the Spartans of their old teacher Deja from training as children. She looked almost exactly like her. She had accessed the Covenant Battle Net and shut down the entire system from the inside out. Now she and Gold Team were on to their last target. This was the capitol of all the Covenant outposts on this world. It was clear this planet was nothing more than a light reconnaissance station for the Covenant. Spartan-029 was simply pleased that it was a planet and not another mobile command station.

Jesse and Kimberly slowed down to a crawl before coming to a stop. The Elite's searched the trees with trigger fingers ready and eyes bright and alert. Four Elites total. One for each of them. This group would be easy pickings; all rookies.

Leslie's acknowledgment light winked twice. They were free to move. Without a sound, Dan and Luke dropped from the canopy above the Elites and flattened two of them. Before the Others could make a sound or turn to fire, Jesse sprang up and filled the aliens head's with lead. Several muffled puffs went off and the Elites dropped to the ground. Jesse gave the area a quick sweep with his silenced SMG's before putting them away.

"We had a few other contacts." Leslie reported from her scouting position in a nearby tree canopy. "All neutralized."

"Good eyes Gold Five." Jesse nodded. He glanced at all his teammates as he contemplated his next move. Gold team still donned their red and yellow Mark VI MJOLNIR armor but with more upgrades from their previous models. Leslie had a new image enhancing computer installed her her armor as well as her new SRS99C sniper rifle. She could have shot a flea off a Grunts head clear across the base. Dan's linear accelerator tripled the strength of his shields. So much that when left unchecked, his armor began to glow as the over shield expanded. Luke's tracking system had been upgraded for heavy weapons targeting, making his shots one hundred percent more accurate. Kimberly was fitted with a new high sensitivity motion tracker which also tripled the radius her radar's range. Jesse's enhanced neural induction circuits gave him a greater fast-twitch response as well as a speed increase. However, he knew in the back of his mind that Kelly, Spartan-087, would always be the fastest Spartan alive.

"Alright Spartans listen up. The longer we take here the worse the situation is for us. So here's the plan. Dan, you and Luke are going to take the auto turrets and set them up to draw away the Covenant troops from the center of the base." He turned to Leslie. "Leslie, you're going to be our eyes. Triangulate a map for us and give Dan and Luke the coordinates for the best spot to set up. After that you and Kimberly position yourselves that will give you the best view of the area and provide support for Dan and Luke."

"What about you sir?" Kimberly asked as she checked over her SRS99C sniper rifle.

"I've got a delivery to make." Jesse grabbed one of their gear bags and lifted the Fury tac-nuke. It was a little bit over the size of a football but this bomb was the one of the Spartan's favorites. These nuclear grenades had been used time and time again with repeated success. This time would be no different. "Everyone knows what they need to do?" Four acknowledgment light winked green. "Good. Let's move. I want radio silence from here on unless there is a specified need for it."

Gold Team nodded and their lights flashed again.

Dan slung one of the bags over his shoulder. Inside were two mini auto turrets, Not very effective when fighting Elites and Jackals but great when wanting to cause mass mayhem. Luke grabbed the other and he and Dan slipped into the shadows. Leslie grabbed two more of their bags and returned to the canopy. Kimberly waited a moment.

"Be careful." She placed two fingers on Jesse's faceplate where his mouth should be. This was as close as she would let herself get to giving him a kiss on the battlefield.

"Anything for you." Jesse smiled and returned the gesture. "Kimsey." He turned and headed towards the fortress. Kimberly shook her head before grabbing the last of their gear and taking up position in the trees.

Jesse slipped through the underbrush as silent as a snake. Along the perimeter of the alien fortress, Grunts toddled about or curled up to sleep. Jesse shook his head. These little aliens were completely relaxed and unaware of anything going on around them. There was no need to engage them. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

He was about to creep forward when Kimberly's status light winked yellow. Jesse froze and crouched down even lower. Overhead, three Banshees flew in low. Several of the sleeping Grunts jumped up, now alert that Elites were in the area. The Banshees flew out a few kilometers over the trees before turning back to the base. Once the shrill cry of their engines died away, the Grunts returned to their business. Jesse waited until they were back asleep and plodding about mindlessly. Slowly he crept closer. When a pair of the little aliens passed by an entrance into the base, Jesse sprinted out. Without a sound he zipped past the two unsuspecting aliens and into the shadows again.

The Spartan paused and Leslie's status light winked green. A 3D map of the area appeared on his HUD. There were only three Covenant warships here. Not much to the space jockeys but one was too many for any ground troops to favor. They were about two hundred yards away, smack dead in the middle of the compound. An easy distance to cover even with obstacles, but not when those obstacles were hundreds of Covenant barracks and troops. Dome-shaped tents filled with methane for the Grunts took up a majority of the structures. Covenant Ghosts were parked outside many of the oddly-shaped polyhedral huts of the Elite warriors. This place was so hot with weaponry, a lighter would have set everything sky high.

Dan and Luke's status lights flashed green. They had set up the distraction and were moving to reposition themselves. Jesse had to hurry. The longer he took, the more time the Covenant would have looking for their missing troops and find his team. The Spartan slipped through the structures. He could hear the wheezing snore of Grunts inside their domes. Halfway to his objective, Jesse froze. Straight ahead, blocking his path was a Hunter pair. Neither had noticed him yet and he ducked back behind a munitions crate. Neither of the colossal aliens moved. They were standing guard outside an Elite hut. Jesse had seen this before, Hunters usually were sent in as heavy demolition equipment but he had noticed on several occasions that they served as body guards for the Elite Zealots.

Jesse contemplated taking out the leader but decided against it. He remembered the last time he had singled out a Field Commander. He hefted his new MA5C assault rifle and kept it leveled at the Hunter's backs as he moved across behind them. He didn't want to have an engagement this soon. Not until the nuke had been dropped off. No more time to waste. He had to hurry. The Spartan took off at a slight jog, zigzagging between each tent until he had just about reached the gravity lift.

Jesse took cover behind one of the methane bubbles that had been set up around the base of the lift. Grunts were everywhere, scrambling to grab crates that came down from the cruiser above them.

Jesse flashed his status light three times. A moment later the sounds of machine gun fire could be heard in the distance. Grunts on the platform stopped what they were doing and looked around. Several began barking and dropped the crates they were carrying. They grabbed their plasma pistols and waddled off towards the edges of the compound. Several explosions from igniting methane domes rumbled through the air. The Spartan leapt from hiding and grabbed the Fury tac-nuke from his bag before hurling it into the gravity lift. He watched as it rose up into the belly of the ship and disappeared from sight. With that done he shouldered his assault rifle and grabbed his SMG's.

"Spartans, fall back! This place is gunna get even hotter!" His team's acknowledgment lights winked. He sprinted towards his exit vector, spraying down Covenant troops with bullets as he ran past them. It was total chaos on the ground. Grunts barked and shrieked and fired at anything that moved, including each other and their commanding officers. Jesse hurled two frag grenades and several more clouds of fire irrupted from the methane tents. The surviving Grunts fled and the Elites followed to gain control of their soldiers. The path out of the fortress was clear and Jesse sprinted at top speed.

All of a sudden three figures stepped out of the smoke and the Spartan skidded to a halt. The gold-armored Elite Zealot snarled menacingly and drew its energy sword. Behind him towered his Hunter guards who leveled their fuel rod guns at the Spartan.

"Gold Four do you read me?" Jesse called over his team COM.

"Yes sir." Luke replied. He almost sounded worried.

"What is your position?"

"According to the map, sir, just north of you."

"Good. Shoot me."

"Sir?" Luke was caught off guard by his team leader.

"That's an order!"

Luke's acknowledgment light winked once and Jesse dove to the side. A deep red laser cut through the trees and burned through the two Hunters and the Elite Commander. Jesse looked back to where he had stood moments before. A puddle of liquid rock was all that was left.

"Thanks Luke. Just needed a path cleared."

"Not a problem sir. Glad to shoot at you anytime."

Jesse raced for the exit. Grunts moved to stop him but their efforts were in vain. The Spartan rushed past them and back into the relative safety of the trees. He could see his teammates on his motion tracker, they were up ahead moving back towards their fallback point. Jesse looked over his shoulder and watched as the Covenant cruisers turned towards the woods. Their lateral lines began glowing with heated energy. If one of those plasma beams were to hit, then Gold Team would cease to exist.

Just before the energy discharged there was a low rumbling growl from within the lead ship. A moment later, the entire ship burst into an enormous ball of fire. The explosion overwhelmed the shields of its sister ships and soon the cruisers turned into three monstrous frag grenades. Shrapnel and chunks of molten metal rained down on the base and the troops bellow. A wave of fire and plasma rushed through the forest and Jesse could see that his team wasn't going to make it.

"Shields!" He shouted over the roar of the fire. He stopped and grabbed a football-sized capsule off his belt. He pressed a button and spiked it into the ground. A split second later a bubble appeared around him and the wave of plasma blew past him.

When the shield dropped everything was silent. Jesse checked his motion tracker. Nothing moved. He checked on his teammates bio-signs. All were present and accounted for. They had all made it. Jesse breathed a sigh of relief and headed back towards them.

"You guys okay?"

"Yes sir." Kimberly nodded and _smiled_ at him.

"Nothing's moving." Leslie reported after she climbed down from a burned tree. "Mission accomplished sir."

"Good. I'll radio Sophitia to pick us up." He turned his team COM to a new frequency. "Come in. Sophitia? This is Gold Leader. Do you read me?"

"Yes I do. It seems that you guys have been having quite the fireworks show going on down there." The AI was clearly still irritated at being left behind on board the prowler.

"I'm sorry." Jesse chuckled apologetically. "We'll make it up to you later, okay. Would you send in a dropship for dust off?"

The AI laughed. "Acknowledged Gold Leader. It will be good to have you back. The brass up here really aren't much in the amusement department. Over and out."

"You know, it still amazes me how much attitude she has." Dan snickered. "She really is just like Cortana."

"I don't think Cortana was as critical towards anyone outside the Spartan ranks." Kimberly pointed out.

"I agree." Leslie nodded.

"Okay guys, enough about Sophitia. Let's give this area another quick sweep for possible survivors, then go home."

"Sir! Yes sir!"

**1500 Hours, September 1, 2552 (military calendar)/ Pegasus Omega System, Planet Eden **

"Good work Gold Team." Fhajad nodded approvingly from behind his desk. "With this new planet cleared of Covenant troops, we can now go about establishing an orbital defense grid to keep any more intruders away."

"Thank you sir." The Gold Team SPARTANS saluted. It had taken two weeks to return to Planet Eden from Seraph 2. Gold Team was still a bit groggy having just been brought out of cryogenic stasis just minutes before.

Fhajad, SPARTAN-084, was one of the SPARTAN II's that hadn't made it through the bio-augmentation procedure. He was paralyzed from the waist down and was now permanently in a wheel chair. After the surgery he had been very prone to fits of non-stop shaking. They still happened from time to time but he had recovered enough to keep the frequency down.

"You've all earned a little rest. Go relax for a while. We are looking into a new assignment for you as we speak."

"Yes sir." Gold Team saluted. They turned to leave but Jesse stayed behind.

"What is it 029?" The General asked.

"Sir, permission to speak freely sir."

"Granted."

"That mission seemed a bit too easy for me and my squad sir. Not to sound like I'm complaining, but the Covenant forces in the area weren't too numerous. I know Seraph 2 is technically a Covenant pit-stop but even still."

"I see where you're going Jesse. With the Covenant's history I'm a bit surprised myself that they did not have more units deployed in the area. I will send out probes to the system to keep an eye on it and report of any more Covenant activity in the next weeks. If the Covenant do show up, and see there are no human forces present, we can start constructing the orbital defense grid within the next month."

"Do you think we'll have that long sir?"

"We can only hope." Fhajad sighed.

"Thank you sir." Jesse saluted and exited.

"Hey Jesse, good news." Dan waved as his CO jointed the group outside the briefing room. "Some of the General's staff have informed us that the new munitions are ready for field deployment. The new BR's are in as well as the new Mark VI's."

"Not only that," Luke continued. "The Spartan Laser is done with field testing and is ready for mass manufacturing. And with all the Engineers available, we should have enough for every SPARTAN on Reach within a couple weeks."

"I'm glad to hear it." Jesse nodded slightly. "Maybe now we can really start turning this war against the Covenant." There was a slight bitterness in his voice. The Covenant had nearly wiped out every outer colony and military stronghold. Reach, home, was all they had left to defend Earth. "I will run it through the General and see if we can't ship the gear out ASAP. In the meantime, I want all of you to go get yourselves some rations. Understood?"

"Yes sir." His squad-mates saluted.

**1900 Hours, September 9, 2552 (military calendar)/ Slipspace stream En-route to Epsilon Erandi System**

Kimberly opened her eyes as the cold mist evaporated around her. The cryo-stasis tube was opened and the Cryo-technitian waved nervously. It was private Henske at the station. He had worked with Gold Team as an unofficial assistant on more than one occasion. The young man was barely out of his teens and had still not fully gotten used to being around Gold Team despite the countless missions they had gone into together.

"Um, sir. Are you feeling well sir?" He saluted as the SPARTAN in red and yellow armor stepped out of the tube and towered over him.

"Very much so private. I appreciate the double dose of the wake-up serum.

"It was per Gold Leader's orders sir."

"Well thank you none the less." Kimberly gave a slight nod. "At ease." Henske relaxed his shoulders but that was about it. Kimberly left cryo-bay and brought up her team's status on her HUD. The others were all awake. Once again Jesse had saved her for last. And he was on the bridge with the Captain. She made her way up to the bridge where she found her CO and Captain Sheen staring out into the color-streamed slipspace.

Jesse turned his head slightly. "Hey Kim. How was your nap?"

Kimberly snapped a quick salute to her CO and Captain Sheen. "Good sir. Not freezer burn and no complaints, sir."

"Good. I'm glad." Jesse _smiled_ at her and Kimberly returned the gesture.

Captain Sheen was in his late forty's and was showing several signs of aging. He was beginning to bald on top of his head and had several pronounced wrinkles embedded in his forehead. He was Jesse's choice for a ship Captain when being dropped into a hot mission. The Captain had a good field record and was willing to assist the Gold Team in any way shape or form.

"We should be arriving in-system in just a few minutes." Captain Sheen reported. Kimberly nodded.

"It's been quite a while since we last saw John and the others." She said as she stood next to Jesse.

"And Cortana." Sophitia piped up inside Jesse's helmet.

"Been well over a year and a half." Jesse agreed. "It was good seeing everyone again. It's too bad we can't see them more often."

"We'll be able to once this war is over." Kimberly moved a bit closer to him so that they could barely feel their shields press against each other. "I have a feeling that with this new shipment we'll be well on our way to doing so."

"Entering Epsilon Erandi System in ten seconds." The navigator called over her shoulder. The seconds counted down then the color field of slipspace was overwhelmed by a bright flash of light then darkness.

"We're here." Jesse sighed to himself.

"Hailing Reach orbital defense network." The communications officer said. Then he looked over his shoulder with a confused expression. "No response Captain."

"Put me through." Captain Sheen ordered.

"I can't sir. The frequency is dead. All UNSC frequencies read static."

"What! That can't be." Sheen exclaimed. He whirled to face his navigator. "Kardos, are you sure you have the correct coordinates?"

"Yes sir." She stammered. "The coordinates are correct sir."

"Captain." Sophitia spoke up.

"What is it?" Sheen turned towards the SPARTAN.

"It's Reach." Jesse looked at the screen.

"Enhance image Kardos."

The faint glowing image of the planet zoomed in and every jaw dropped.

"Reach." Kimberly whispered so low that only a SPARTAN could hear it. "What happened to it? What happened to our home?"

The once green and lustrous planet Reach was now a dry barren ball of glass. All around the planet, were scraps of metal. A debris field containing the remains of Covenant and UNSC star ships; and the crews they carried.

"Son of a bitch!" Sheen hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

"It looks like the Covenant attacked Reach." Sophitia replied in just as much dismay. "It looks like they somehow found their way here."

"Damn it!" The Captain cursed and slammed a fist on his arm rest. "How in blue blazes could they have found Reach? Damn aliens!"

Kimberly looked at Jesse. "What now Jesse? After we lost the Sigma Octanus system, Reach was the last stronghold we had against the Covenant."

"I don't know Kimsey." Jesse sighed. He was completely devastated. What had gone wrong? How could Reach be gone? And for that matter, John the Master Chief as well as the others. Over thirty SPARTANS, gone in a flash. He stared at the screen in silence as the Captain began giving orders to the crew.

"I'm detecting a lot of cerebral activity." Sophitia piped up. "What are you thinking?"

"Do you see that?" Jesse took a couple steps towards the holographic screen and pointed. All eyes followed him.

"I see." Sophitia acknowledged. "It looks like the Covenant missed a spot."

"But the Covenant don't miss anything." Kimberly pointed out. "Especially when glassing a planet from orbit."

"Exactly." Jesse nodded and turned to face the bridge crew. "They use crosshatch patterns to make sure they cover every last inch of the planet's surface. But they purposely left this area here untouched."

"What for?" Captain Sheen asked curiously.

"Your guess is as good as mine sir." Jesse shrugged.

"Sophitia. Could you bring up a topographic map of that area?" Kimberly asked.

"I'm already on it." The AI replied and a second later a holo-map came up.

"What is that place?" Captain Sheen asked as he looked over the vast valleys and mountain ranges.

"That's Castle sir." Jesse replied. "A huge military training and weapons development center for the Office of Naval Intelligence. My guess is that the Covenant were curious to find something that ONI might have had stashed there."

"Is there anything else in that region of interest to the Covenant?" Kimberly asked.

"Just a few marine command posts and a generator for the orbital defense network." Sophitia answered.

Jesse tuned to to Captain Sheen. "Sir, with your permission I would like to go planet-side."

"Gold Leader, I understand you want to know what happened here, but there's not enough atmosphere down there."

"That's why it will only be Gold Team going sir." Sophitia jumped in before Jesse could respond. She always did that. "We don't want to risk your men and our armor has a good fourteen hours worth of oxygen stored in them. We will be fine sir."

The Captain relaxed a bit more. "Very well Gold Team. Permission granted."

"Thank you sir." Jesse and Kimberly saluted and disappeared from the bridge.

The Captain turned to his crew. "All right, I want all staff up to combat alert yellow! I want full power to the engines and keep the slipspace generator warm just in case. I want us down there within the next hour!"

"Yes sir!" His staff nodded and got to work.

**2030 Hours, September 9, 2552 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Planet Reach**

Dan piloted the dropship towards the planet's surface. There were no clouds, no violent shaking of the ship, nothing. The atmosphere had all been burned away. All that remained was the pull of gravity.

Luke, Leslie and himself had all been stunned by the news of their old home being crushed by the Covenant. They had gathered their gear in silence but Jesse had ordered them to let go of the thought of Reach no longer existing. It may have seemed cruel to any other human but to a SPARTAN it was their mission. Emotions had no place on the battlefield. They had a mission to do and they couldn't carry out a mission if they weren't functioning at their optimum levels.

"Land us at the edge of the reserve Gold Two." Jesse said over his shoulder as they roared over the planet's surface.

"Yes sir." Dan nodded.

Across the glossy plane rose the burned remains of what had once been forest and dense underbrush; a SPARTAN'S best friend in any operation. The pelican came in for a landing and Gold Team piled out onto the last bit of dirt on the planet.

Jesse began giving orders as soon as his feet hit the ground. "Listen up Gold Team. I don't think I should have to say this again but I will just to be safe. This is no longer our home. We have no room for feelings here. We are to find clues as to what happened here and get back to HQ as quickly as possible. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" Dan and the others replied immediately.

"Good. I'm glad I can still count on you all." Jesse looked around at them. That last statement was more for himself as a leader rather to them as his squad. "So here's the plan. Gold Two, you and Gold Five check out the platform generator complex to the south. Gold Three, you're with me. Gold Four, I want you to remain with the ship incase something should go sour while we're still on patrol." Dan and the others winked their acknowledgment lights. "Good. Now move out. There's no time to spare. Keep the frequencies warm, but speak only if necessary. Gold Four, I want long range scans every five minutes."

"Yes sir." Luke gave a slight hint of a nod.

Dan watched as his team leader and Kimberly broke off together as they always did and head north towards Castle. After a moment he followed Leslie as they headed south.

It took less than an hour to get in sight of the platform generator complex. The structure was a power source and an elevator to the Super Mac guns that used to be in orbit above the planet.

"Looks like a real mess." Leslie reported without lifting her gaze from her SRS99C sniper rifle. "Covenant bodies are everywhere."

Dan could see the field, several hundred yards away, littered with corpses. "How many are human?"

"A lot. It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. If any human had survived, they're probably dead now."

Dan sighed through his nostrils. "Then let's keep moving. There's nothing more we can do here." The two SPARTANS moved down the hill at a slightly quickened pace and through the valley of corpses. Grunts, Jackals and Elites lay in dried puddles of their own blood in wretched and twisted positions. Wraiths, Ghosts and Banshees lay abandoned or broken in little pockets across the valley. The middle of the valley was scorched pitch black; a sign of a massive explosion. Dan's radiation meter blinked a yellow warning but nothing more.

"We should hurry." He advised Leslie and they moved to a steady run. Once on the other side of the valley their radiation monitors returned to normal.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say this valley was the work of some SPARTANS." Leslie commented.

Dan nodded. "Good."

Another fifteen minutes passed in silence except for the frequent radar updates from Luke back at the dropship. At last the two SPARTANS climbed over a hill that overlooked the valley surrounding the generator complex. Once again, the land had Covenant bodies and machinery scattered throughout. Nothing moved.

"Come on. Let's check it out." Dan drew his MA5C and cycled the bolt before starting down the hill. Leslie followed fairly close, sweeping over the scenery with her sniper rifle. As they made their way towards the main generator complex they began to notice several small lumps of earth and many large craters blown through the ground. Lotus anti-tank mines.

"What is it?" Leslie asked when she saw her partner pausing to examine the mine field.

"This is SPARTAN handiwork." He replied without looking up. "Notice how the mines are spread out. Just like during training."

"You're right." Leslie agreed as she examined the ground more closely. "Do you think there are some SPARTANS still alive?"

"Let's keep searching." Dan suggested and began slowly picking through the mine field.

"_This is Gold Leader. Reporting._" Jesse's voice came in clear over the COM-channel. "_Gold Three and I have have located a small marine outpost._" There was a pause. "_We've found some SPARTANS. All dead though. Their suit diagnostics indicate that they died due to a high speed impact. Perhaps they were hit by a vehicle or some Covenant weapon._"

"_Gold Four_." Sophitia's voice piped up. "_I am marking the location of the outpost. Come in and gather up the bodies for later inspection._" Luke was silent but his acknowledgment light winked green. Then silence.

Dan continued towards the generator complex with Leslie close to his back; her sniper rifle peering over the landscape like a hawk searching for prey. They came to the main gate of the generator complex. The doors had been burned through by plasma weapons and several Covenant bodies lay on the ground. Leslie knelt in front of the burned hole and poked her sniper scope through. After a moment she pulled her weapon back out.

"I suggest you step back." She said in her machine-like voice. That told Dan she was very serious about whatever was in there. He followed her back several yards. She grabbed a shield pod off her belt and frag grenade. "This one's going to be big." She warned. "Stay close." Dan moved next to her and crouched down with his assault rifle raised. Leslie chucked the grenade through the hole then immediately spiked the shield pod into the ground. The protective orb formed and a rumbling explosion blew off the entire wall of the complex. Rocks, metal and fire rained down on the two SPARTANS. Moments later, everything was settled.

"_Gold Two, report._" Jesse called over the team's COM.

"Just moving some debris sir." Dan replied. "Nothing to report yet."

"Very well. Carry on."

Dan and Leslie looked at each other and noticed that they were huddling extremely close together. Almost to the point of what could be considered a SPARTAN cuddle.

They put their feelings aside. Jesse and Kimberly were experts at keeping their feelings for each other in check during a mission, but Dan and Leslie were not. They pushed through the remaining rubble and into the complex. Plasma burns covered the walls inside the complex and the alien bodies covered the ground. Dan also noticed something else.

"There's no bullet holes." He muttered as his MA5C swept over the yard.

"SPARTANS." Leslie stated. "There must have been a desperate struggle to keep the generators online. It was probably Reach's last line of defense. They made every shot count."

"Let's split up." Dan ordered. "We'll be able to cover more ground that way. You take the east and north walls and I will check out the other two."

"Yes sir." Leslie gave the faintest hint of a nod. "Be careful." She said and pressed two fingers against her teammate's face plate. It was the first time she had ever used that gesture after watching Jesse and Kim do it on a few occasions. Dan was frozen for a moment. Leslie was really worried about him and he could tell.

"I will." He replied and placed two fingers on her face plate before going on his way.

**0200 Hours, September 10, 2552 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Planet Reach**

"Jesus." Kimberly gasped as she and SPARTAN-029 stared up at what remained of Castle. The once enormous mountain now looked as though someone had taken a giant nail file and worn it down to a nub. They had left the marine outpost after Sophitia had given Gold Four the coordinates to pick up the bodies. The SPARTANS they had found were missing several pieces of their Mark V armor,indicating that some surviving SPARTANS had used their armor to replace their own damaged parts.

"Looks like the Covenant spent quite a bit of time here." Sophitia pointed out. "This area is littered with dropships, vehicles and tons of drilling equipment."

"It also looks like someone was raising some sort of hell too." Jesse remarked. There had been several points on the ground where there had been signs of bloody skirmishes. All the victims were Covenant.

"Indeed." Sophitia agreed. "Let's move inside. See if anything is left."

Jesse and Kimberly began moving up the side of the mountain towards the huge gaping entrance of the hole the Covenant had made. They were inside the base now. Human corpses carpeted the ground. The Covenant had taken over the ONI complex with blitzkrieg force and annihilated all the personnel there.

"Is the area clear Sophitia?" Jesse whispered as the two SPARTANS slipped silently through the fortress.

"Scanners show nothing moving." Sophitia reported. "At least not on our level."

Jesse squandered away his thoughts and continued on. After a brief climb he stood at the gaping mouth of the cavern bellow. It was pitch black.

"Looks like we're going down." Sophitia said.

"I guess so." Jesse grabbed a cable from his belt and secured it. "We'll go down first and make sure everything is clear first." He said to Kimberly. "Once we give the signal it's your turn."

Kimberly nodded. She drew her S2 and aimed deep into the chasm. She could just barely make out the floor bellow. "Looks clear." She replied and switched the S2 for her BR55.

"Ok. See you down there." Jesse said and repelled down into the darkness. About three-quarters of the way down Sophitia spoke up.

"Hold it. Do you see that?"

"Yeah I do." Jesse nodded. Down bellow there was what remained of a medical ward. Parts from MJOLNIR armor were scattered here and there and several flash-cloning crates lay on the tables. "It looks like Dr. Halsey's office."

"Dr. Katherine Halsey was here?" Sophitia's voice took a sudden child-like interest.

"It shouldn't be surprising. She was always stationed around Reach to overlook our progress during training."

"I know." Sophitia said, obviously irritated. "I was merely commenting that I haven't seen her in a long time."

"You and me both." Jesse commented as he set foot on the cold tile floor. He swept the area with his battle rifle before flashing his status light twice. A moment later another cable dropped down next to him and Kimberly slipped down into the darkness.

She gave the area a quick sweep with her BR55 then relaxed slightly. "It looks like whatever SPARTANS that survived the invasion fell back to Castle."

"Seems that way." Jesse nodded. "Let's see what the good doctor was up to."

He moved over to the computer on Dr. Halsey's desk and turned the power on. The screen flickered slightly then came to life.

"Ok, Sophitia. Do your business." Jesse reached back to the AI port on the back of his neck and grabbed her crystal He inserted it into the AI port on the table and the greek dressed AI stood and stretched.

"It looks pretty empty in here." She muttered darkly. "Whatever Katherine was working on, she wanted to make sure no one else found out."

"What could Dr. Halsey be working on that she wanted no one else to see?" Kimberly asked.

"I've found bits and pieces of files but it's hard to say at this point." Sophitia replied. "From the looks of it there's something called _King Under the Mountain_."

"Sounds like something to do with Castle." Jesse pointed out. "It's a deep facility, so there might be something worth hiding in here."

"You could be correct." Sophitia continued. "The file came from an office deeper in but it's been recently destroyed due to the Covenant mining project."

"Who did it belong to?"

"A Colonel Ackerson."

A deep grumble resided inside Jesse. He and the other SPARTANS had seen Col. Ackerson on very rare occasions. And judging by the way CPO Mendez and Dr. Halsey referred to him, the SPARTANS could only assume that he was not their friend. Jesse had run into him during recovery after his bio-augmentation. Had it not been for Dr. Halsey's interjection, he would have most certainly been shot for assaulting an officer.

Jesse tightened his grip on his BR55. Sophitia noticed the slight gesture.

"Is something wrong?"

"No." Jesse answered plainly. "Do you have any other info for us?"

Sophitia brought up a holo-map of Castle in the middle of the room. She drew her sword from underneath her shield and hopped off the desk and over to the hologram. "We are currently at this position." She said an pointed with her blade to a green dot towards the top of the mountain. "According to what my scanners show, Castle goes much deeper than we expected."

"How deep is deep?" Kimberly asked as she walked up beside the AI who was no taller than her knee.

"This is how much of Castle was dug out by ONI." Sophitia explained and highlighted the upper third of the mountain. "This is how much was dug out by the Covenant a couple weeks ago."

"A couple weeks?" Jesse thought to himself. "Then we just missed the invasion. Reach must've been attacked right after we got back to Eden."

"But it's not the entire mountain that the Covenant was trying to move." Sophitia continued. "Their efforts seemed focused on one point." She pointed with her blade again. "There."

"Then that's where we'll go." Jesse stood up right. "Let's go you two. We're going to find out just what the Covenant were up to."

"Just a second." Sophitia stopped him before he could remove her from the AI port. "I'm picking something up."

"What is it?" Jesse asked. His voice hard and serious.

"Movement."

"Covenant?"

"I can't tell. It was just a flicker. But something definitely showed up on the scanners."

Jesse's lips tightened. "Let's get going then." He ordered. "We're going down there."

"Yes sir." Kimberley saluted and cycled the bolt in her BR55. Jesse grabbed Sophitia and inserted her back into his armor. They were about to move out when suddenly Dan's voice burst through the radio.

"_Gold Leader! Come in Gold Leader! I have found SPARTANS! I repeat! I have found SPARTANS! They're alive_!"

**0200 Hours, September 10, 2552 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Planet Reach**

Dan pushed his way through broken buildings and slipped through several booby traps. The more he searched the more he was certain that the other SPARTANS were here. Or at least had been here. He had cleared out the south side of the complex and was scouting out the west end when he ran into three bodies. They weren't SPARTANS, but UNSC marines. Probably the only survivors of the massacre several miles back. They were burned from the plasma weapons and one marine's left side had been blown out; no doubt the work of a needler pistol.

These were the first human bodies Dan had seen so far. He felt that he should report it and called Leslie over a private COM-channel.

"I have three marines. KIA."

"Same here." Leslie replied. "It looks like the Covenant attacked the east side first. Most of the action seemed to have taken place on this end. There's bodies everywhere. No survivors though."

"Roger that. Moving on." Dan clicked off the radio and headed towards a building that he guessed the marines were trying to protect. It was the main structure to the complex and that was probably where the SPARTANS had made their last stand against the Covenant.

Dan stepped quietly over the ground moving ever so slowly and deliberately. If this building was the last stand, then it was no doubt rigged with booby traps. That was the way SPARTANS carried out their missions. Make the enemy's life a living hell before playing opossum and luring their foe into a false sense of security before delivering the last fatal blow.

So far nothing caught his eye. He crept up to a door that had been burned through with fuel rod canons. He could tell because a Hunter pair lay in pieces across the ground. This door had to be booby trapped. Dan pulled out a camera probe from his helmet and steered it around the corner. Inside was dark and his visor had to adjust to the lighting. Covenant bodies were piled up against the walls and plasma weapons were backed into a corner where three SPARTANS in battered Mark V armor sat; motionless.

Dan resisted the urge to jump up and run into the building to check on his old teammates. He opened a COM-channel and whistled a six-note tone. Then he whispered. "Oly oly oxen free."

There was a long silence. Then Dan repeated the tune again. "Olly olly oxen free." Another long silence.

Dan was about to give up when he heard the faintest SPARTAN whisper.

"All out in the free. We're all free." One of the SPARTANS looked up slightly towards the door. Dan stood up called to his team leader.

"Gold Leader! Come in Gold Leader! I have found SPARTANS! I repeat! I have found SPARTANS! They're alive!"

"Excellent work Gold Two!" Jesse's voice called from the radio. The note of excitement barely noticeable in his voice. "How many do you count?"

"Three sir. They're the only survivors."

"That's good enough for me." His team leader breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm sending Luke your coordinates for dust off. Give them a quick inspection and make sure they're able to be moved safely."

"Roger that sir. Gold Two out." Dan switched off the COM-channel and leaned against the doorway. "SPARTANS, this is Gold Two. What's your status?"

"Good to hear from you Dan." Marshal, SPARTAN-027, wheezed. "We've been through quite the ride here. The door is booby trapped so you will have to find another way in."

"Understood." Dan moved back a few yards and grabbed a pair of plasma rifles off the ground. "Give me just a second." He called and fired into the wall approximately where the SPARTANS were located. The wall glowed super hot then began to cool. Dan dropped the plasma weapons them drew his MA5C and unloaded two shredder clips into the wall. "Here goes!" He mumbled and charged. There was a loud crash as the crimson red SPARTAN plowed through the wall and over the piles of Covenant bodies piled against them.

"That's one way to get the job done." Marshal gave a weak chuckle.

"We're SPARTANS. We do what needs to be done." Dan waved his index finger in a circle and Marshal struggled to move.

"Sorry Dan. We've been through a little more than enough here. We..." Marshal suddenly fell limp on the floor.

"Marsh? Marsh!" Dan called. He rolled his teammate over and removed the main panel. "Shit!" He cursed. SPARTAN-027's oxygen reserves were already reaching critical loss. He quickly checked over the others; Judy, SPARTAN-018 and Roy, SPARTAN-099. They were in equally serious condition. "Hang on guys. We didn't find you just to watch you die." He said as he reached for a chord and connected their Mark V's with his Mark VI. There was a hiss of air and a slight breeze within his armor. He checked over his fellow SPARTANS again. Their oxygen levels were slowly rising. Dan propped Marshal back against the wall and slumped next to them. Mission accomplished.

Several minutes passed and he heard gravel crunching outside. He looked up at the hole he had made and saw Leslie step through. She set down her sniper rifle and checked on Marshal and the others.

"They'll be okay until Luke arrives with the dropship." She said softly. Then she looked at Dan for a long moment. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be just fine." Dan _smiled._ "I'm going to put my suit on reserve power to conserve oxygen so it will be up to you and Luke to help us onboard."

"Understood." Leslie nodded. "Rest well." She watched as Dan's muscles relaxed and his armor went into a sleep mode. After a moment of silence she pressed two fingers against his face plate again and moved to the opening in the wall to wait for the dropship.

**0350 Hours, September 10, 2552 (military calendar)/ Epsilon Erandi System, Planet Reach**

"_Come in Gold Leader. This is Gold Five._"

"Go ahead Gold Five." Jesse called. "What's your status?"

"_Gold Four has arrived with the dropship. We are done loading up SPARTANS-018, -027 and -099."_

Jesse ran the numbers with the names in his head. It was Team Nineteen; Marshal, Judy and Roy.

"_However, their oxygen supply is extremely low. Gold Two has put his suit into stasis to preserve oxygen between the four of them._" Leslie continued. _"We may need to return to the ship first and drop them off before we can extract you guys._" Luke jumped in.

"Very well then. Take them back and Luke, you return to extract us when you're all finished upstairs."

"Yes sir." Luke flashed his acknowledgment light.

"Gold Three, Sophitia and I are going to continue scouting around down here. There might be something still left inside Castle that can provide us with information on what happened here."

"Roger that." Leslie confirmed. "Gold Five and Gold Four, signing off."

"Looks like our day has just gotten better." Kimberly said once the team-COM was silent.

"Let's hope it keeps on heading that way." Jesse said in a half-growl. "Let's keep moving."

The two SPARTANS continued walking down the dark halls, their ultra-keen eye sight and night vision guiding them the whole way.

"According to the map I scanned from Dr. Halsey's office, there should be an elevator coming up soon. But it's been disabled recently."

"We'll check it out anyways." Jesse said. Suddenly he and Kimberly stopped. Laying across the floor were five Elite bodies. Jesse shouldered his battle rifle and covered the hallway as Kimberly moved up and knelt beside the dead aliens.

"Black armor." She reported.

"Special Ops Elites." Jesse growled.

"As bad as it may sound, it does provide a bit more information to us. Whatever the Covenant wanted must have been extremely important to them. They must have been after something specific if they sent in their special forces."

"The job must have been too delicate to leave to the Rookies and the Majors." Kimberly said as she got up.

"Like SPARTAN, delicate?" Jesse asked darkly.

"We'll soon find out." Sophitia replied.

"It looks like a couple of them got away." Kimberly muttered and gestured to two pairs of hoof prints left by some white powder.

"Keep alert." Jesse warned her as he moved up from behind. "I'm not taking any chances here."

"Good idea." Sophitia agreed. "With all the Covenant's digging, many sectors have become severely unstable. I suggest using caution when moving around."

"Noted." Jesse nodded and continued on towards the elevator. The doors had been burned through and he peered down the long shaft.

"Going down?" Kimberly asked.

"Going down." Jesse reached for one of the steel cables and gave it a slight tug, then a harder one. "Seems strong enough." He pulled out his zip line and secured it to the wall. "But just in case." He said then slipped into the shaft.

"There don't seem to be any signs of plasma burns here." Sophitia observed as they descended. "Perhaps the Elites Black Ops we saw above were serving as scouts. Whoever they were after must have dealt away with them and made their way down after disabling the lift."

"I see the bottom." Kimberly reported from above. The SPARTANS set down on the smashed elevator parts at the bottom of the shaft and forced the doors open.

"What the hell is this?" Jesse exclaimed.

"Scanning." Sophitia paused for a second. "It appears to be some sort of luminous crystal." The walls were glowing with bright with all colors of the rainbow. The crystals were carved out to form strange alien characters. As Jesse and Kimberly examined them they got the feeling that they recognized the symbols.

"Any idea what these say?" Jesse asked after a hard minute.

"Still scanning." Sophitia replied. "I can't decipher them perfectly at this time but I will keep you posted."

"Very well." Jesse moved on, keeping his rifle raised.

Time passed. The SPARTANS moved at a quickened pace but the corridor seemed unending.

"This looks like something the Covenant would be interested in." Kimberly pointed out. "But something tells me there's more to these than just decoration."

"I don't like it either." Jesse muttered. "Sophitia. How long is this passage?"

"It goes down for quite some distance." The AI replied, irritated as if having been interrupted. "But I have detected an opening in the wall several miles ahead."

"Miles?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes. Miles." Sophitia replied.

"Jesus! Castle doesn't look like much from the outside but inside?" Kimberly shook her head. "Was this all part of the old mining production?"

"I don't believe so." Sophitia continued to look over the glowing crystals. "If ONI had discovered alien relics bellow Castle, I'm sure this war would be going in an entirely new direction." Neither SPARTAN responded.

"Let's move." Jesse ordered and increased his speed to a light jog with Kimberly close behind. Several minutes passed before they spotted the opening in the wall.

"Go down that way." Sophitia said and the SPARTANS turned down the new passageway.

"Hold it!" Jesse came to an abrupt stop. All around them, they could see landscapes. Holograms, but so realistic, and always changing.

"What's going on?" Kimberly felt herself start to stagger just looking around at the holograms and caught herself on Jesse's shoulder. "It's dizzying."

"Are you going to be okay?" Jesse asked sternly.

"I'll be fine." Kimberly shook her head once to clear the feeling. "This place, kind of feels a bit overwhelming."

"What's your diagnosis Sophitia?"

"Hard to say. There's definitely something odd about this room. My guess is it has to do with the energy source that is being used to display these holograms and light up the hieroglyphs."

"Radiation?"

"No traces of radiation have been detected. This technology is similar to Covenant tech..."

"But it's still different than what the Covenant use." Kimberly finished.

"Exactly. My theory is that there was another alien race before the formation of the Covenant. The Covenant must have come across that race and either absorbed them or annihilated them as they are with the human race."

"Then this would probably be one of those planets that the other race must have occupied at one point or another." Jesse muttered.

"Like I said. It's just a theory." Sophitia reminded him. "We probably won't know for sure until we debrief the others or find more clues down here."

"Then let's search a little bit longer."

"Do these scenes look familiar to either of you?" Kimberly asked as the crept through the room.

"They do." Jesse said without looking up. "None of these places look like Reach. It may be another system. Perhaps one we've already lost."

"I'm recording this for when we get back to Eden. Gold Three, take some time to stop and get a good look at the scenes please."

"Understood." Kimberly replied.

"What are you thinking Sophitia?" Jesse asked as he looked at a far grassy plain.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that this is bad news." The AI muttered darkly. "Something tells me that the Covenant attacked Reach in order to find this planet shown here. They want it, and they want it bad."

"Which planet?"

Before the AI could respond there was a deep bellowing. The SPARTANS whirled around as the two Elite rangers charged from the protection of their active camouflage. Jesse fired into one of the Elite's shoulder before the alien cut his rifle in half with its energy sword.

Kimberly ducked under the blade of her attacker. The force of the swing sent the Elite forward and she drove her knee into its stomach. The Elite gagged and blood spurted from its mouth. Kimberly delivered a punch to the alien's neck and shattered its vertebrae. The Elite fell dead and she turned back with her rifle raised at her team leader.

Jesse blocked another strike from the energy sword and snapped the Elite's arm in half. The monster howled and the SPARTAN delivered a round-house kick and shattered its other arm and sent the creature bouncing across the floor. The Elite struggled to get up and Kimberly aimed her barrel at its head.

"Hold your fire." Sophitia ordered.

Kimberly gave her head a slight twitch towards her team leader. Jesse walked up to the crippled alien with Kimberly close behind him. Sophitia turned on Jesse's outer speakers and spoke.

"Tell us what you're doing here." She demanded. The Elite hissed and snapped at the SPARTAN with it s mandibles. Jesse grabbed his assault rifle and took aim at the Elite's head. "I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"I will tell you nothing demon!" The Elite growled.

Jesse moved his barrel and fired a couple rounds into the Elite's hoof. The alien yowled in agony. The SPARTAN waited until the noise stopped.

"Alright split-face, here's the way this works! I ask you a question and you tell me an answer. One question, one answer. If I don't get the answer I like then we've got a problem. And if we have a problem, you have a big problem. Got it?" The Elite hissed again. Jesse cycled the bolt of his rifle and pressed the barrel against the Elite's head.

"Well? Are you going to cooperate? Or no?" Jesse asked.

"Please say no." Kimberly piped up and pressed the barrel of her S2 against the Elite's throat.

"Why did you attack this planet and leave this area untouched?" Sophitia continued as if nothing had happened.

"After we withdrew from your last system, we discovered the location of one of the scared artifacts."

"What is the sacred artifact?"

"The monument that will lead us to our final destination before we begin the great journey."

"Where is that final destination?" Jesse asked sternly. He was getting a very bad feeling in his gut that he was not going to like the answer.

The Elite just laughed. "Wort wort wort. Look around you demons. This chamber is the spitting image of where we shall go. We will disembark on The Arch, and ride on the path to glorious salvation. "

"We're not asking for a sermon, ugly." Jesse growled and pressed his gun harder into the Elite's head. "Now where exactly is this place that's being displayed here?"

"Shield World." The Elite looked around the room. "This is where the great journey begins. All those who are worthy will gather there and will be propelled along the path of Great Journey." The alien looked at the SPARTANS. "But you demons. You and the rest of the human vermin will be destroyed by the light of righteousness."

"Where is this Shield World?" Sophitia asked.

"It will do you no good demon. Your demise has been set by the gods. You cannot hope to save yourselves."

"Tell us." Sophitia pressed. "What are the coordinates of Shield World?"

The Elite was silent for a long time. Then it reached an arm out slowly. "It matters not what happens to me." The alien groaned. "My salvation has been assured. And I know you cannot do anything to change what has been set in motion." His hand passed over a small carving in the floor and the holograms changed to outer space. Jesse and Kimberly looked around at the stars and galaxies that surrounded them. The hologram zoomed in on one galaxy and the selected location began to glimmer.

"This is..." Sophitia stammered.

"What is it?" Jesse asked. "What's wrong?"

"Everything!" Sophitia cried.

"You're losing us!" Jesse urged, trying to get an answer out of the AI.

"Gold Leader, we have to get back on board the ship! They know!"

The pulse rate of the SPARTANS increased. "The Covenant know?" Jesse gasped in astonishment.

"Yes!" She replied desperately. She switched off Jesse's external speakers. "We have to get back to the ship to warn the others! We have to warn the high officers at ONI! We have to warn Earth!"

"Earth?" Kimberly gasped in disbelief. The name of humanity's home planet was very familiar with all the SPARTANS but none of them had ever seen the planet except for in books or holographic images.

"This is Gold Leader to Captain Sheen!" Jesse called over his long-range communications link. "Come in! We have a code red! Worst case scenario priority Alpha one! Do you copy?"

There was static. Then, "Gold Leader, are you absolutely sure of this?" The Captain replied.

"Sir! We don't have time to explain right now while we're on the ground! We need immediate extraction! We have to get to Earth! That is our new top priority!"

"I'm not sure I'm following you completely Gold Leader, but I trust your judgement. I'm sending a dropship to extract you on the double."

"Thank you sir. Be sure to send some restraints with the pilot. We've got a hitchhiker."

Another pause. "Roger that."

**0700 Hours, September 10, 2552 (military calendar)/ Slipspace stream En-route to Planet Earth**

"How in God's name did the Covenant find Earth?" Sheen asked, baffled. "Was the Cole Protocol not carried out when the Covenant attacked Reach?"

"I don't think that's the case sir." Sophitia shook her head. Jesse had loaded her into the ship's AI carrier. "The system showed that the Col Protocol had been carried out. The Covenant found another way though."

"And that was?" Dan asked from across the table of the war room. He had just come out of stasis just minutes before. He was having trouble choking down the news Jesse, Kimberly and Sophitia had brought back.

"The data I've collected is not one hundred percent conclusive. But judging by the chambers we explored and what our new friend told us, we have can only assume that the Covenant know where Earth is."

"But there's still something I don't understand." Kimberly piped up beside Jesse. "Why do they call it Shield World? Shield from what?"

"That's another question that we don't have answered." Sophitia continued.

"I'm not so sure that the Brass at ONI are going to buy into this." Captain Sheen sighed. "There's just too much information that has been left out for this conclusion."

"They will listen." Jesse said in a monotone voice. "What choice do they have? If not, then all that we have fought for. All that we have been trying to protect, will be lost."

"And what of our new friend?" Luke asked as he glanced at a monitor surveillance of the ship's brig. Inside was the wounded Elite. The SPARTANS had bandaged its wounds up just enough so that it wouldn't bleed to death before they reached their destination but not enough so that it was battle active. They had also chained it to the floor and wrapped its head in sheets to keep it blinded.

"He's coming with us." Sophitia answered. "Hopefully he will tell the ranks at ONI what he told us." She looked up from the floor and straight at Jesse. "I have no doubt in my mind that the Covenant know about the location of Earth."

"Why so sure all of a sudden?" Jesse asked. The seriousness of this situation was making him anxious. Tense. He never got tense for any reason.

"I have been scanning broadcasts from Earth to deep space and this ship's memory core. Several of the images and logs match up almost identically with the images we saw inside Castle."

"To what extent do they match up?" Sheen inquired.

"My guess is that the images we saw inside Castle were hundreds, possibly even thousands of years old. But they match the data I'm receiving between eighty-nine and ninety-six percent accurate."

"Then we need to double time it to Earth." Sheen nodded. "I was hoping for a number less certain but I guess God can't answer all of our prayers."

"I'm sorry Captain. I know the seriousness of the situation." Sophitia shook her head. "I almost don't want to believe it myself."

"Gold Team!" Jesse barked and the heads of his SPARTAN teammates snapped up and into attention.

"Sir!" They knew what was about to happen.

"Gear up! We're going to move fast once we get to Earth! Is that clear?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" Gold Team saluted and disappeared from the room. Jesse turned to Captain Sheen and Sophitia. "We've got work to do. Let's get moving."

"Of course." Sophitia acknowledged.

"You can count me in." Sheen saluted.

**0900 Hours, October 7, 2552 (military calendar)/ Slipspace stream En-route to Planet Earth**

Jesse stood before Gold team in the hanger. All around, crews were busy gearing up pelicans, long-sword fighters, warthogs, gausshogs and unloading gear into hard-drop pods. It had been almost a month since the ship left Reach. Per the Cole Protocol, the UNSC frigate had to make a couple of jumps to uncharted space before making it's final approach to Earth. Sophitia handled everything on her own. Now they were within a few hours from Earth, still traveling through slipspace.

"All right Gold Team. The Covenant will be heading to Earth shortly now. When they get there, they're going to try and wipe us out just like they did to our brothers and sisters on Reach. But we are not going to let that happen!" His teammates remained silent. "For the past twenty-two years we have been fighting together. Our missions have become more difficult over the last decade. But we have always pulled through in the end. But now, the one thing that the UNSC has been trying to protect so desperately has been discovered. We are Earths last line of defense. We are humanity's only hope for survival. The fate of the human race rests on our shoulders. Defending Earth is not going to be easy. Especially since there are only five SPARTANS left instead of thirty-five. As always the odds are stacked against us. But that won't stop us from completing our mission! Am I right SPARTANS!"

"Sir yes sir!" Gold Team shouted.

"We're with you all the way sir!" A voice from behind caught Jesse's attention. He turned to see Team Nineteen heading towards them. Marshal, Roy and Judy were slightly staggering but the gesture was barely noticeable.

"Glad to see you three are awake." Jesse _smiled_. "But are you three up to this after just getting out of surgery?"

"Sir. We've been through flash-cloning before." Marshal saluted. "We'll be just fine sir."

"Sir!" Roy and Judy saluted as well.

"Very well." Jesse nodded.

"Welcome to Gold Team SPARTANS." Dan stepped forward.

"Your first objective is to get your new MJOLNIR Mark VI's up and battle ready."

"Yes sir." Marshal saluted with his two teammates. Gold Team lead Team Nineteen out of the hanger. They marched down the halls to cargo bay seven. When the doors opened up the assistants looked up from the racks of MJOLNIR armor.

Immediately, Team Nineteen jolted into fighting positions.

"Stand down SPARTANS." Jesse ordered. They relaxed about three hairs.

"Sir. What are those things doing here?" Marshal asked uneasily.

"They are the assistants that will be helping you get adjusted to your new armor." Jesse replied as he entered the room and up to one of the suits of armor.

"But sir. They're..."

"Covenant? Yes I know." Jesse nodded as he reached out to one of the Engineers. The little alien chirped and curled around his shoulder and began running a systems check on his armor. "When I was on that Covenant Command Station all those years ago, I had gotten a breach in my armor. Some Engineers repaired the breach and the rest of my armor back up to perfect working order. Since then I proposed to the council at ONI that we acquire some engineers and have them work for us instead of the Covenant."

"I suppose that makes sense." Marshal stood straight but kept his eyes on the Engineers.

"They haven't caused any trouble and have been more than helpful in our efforts to end this war." Kimberly pointed out. "They're good for just about anything from simple maintenance to performing flash cloning surgery on SPARTANS." She looked directly at Team Nineteen.

"Well, we trust your judgement Jesse." Marshal saluted and walked up to one of the Mark VI's. The three Engineers surrounding it moved away and watched eagerly as he donned his new armor. Roy and Judy followed his lead and the Engineers gave their suits a systems check and tuning.

"How do they feel?" Luke asked as he eyed his teammates in their shining green armor.

"Even better than our Mark V's." Roy chuckled. He sounded like a kid in a toy store.

"And not as bulky." Judy added. "It feels more like an extra layer of skin."

"No initial problems then?" Jesse asked.

"No sir." They replied.

"Then let's gear up. I want everyone grabbing whatever weapons they can with as much ammunition as possible. The Covenant may or may not have reached Earth already but we had better be prepared in case they have. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" The other SPARTANS chimed in together.

"Good! Move out!" Jesse took off running with his team close behind him.

**0500 Hours, October 7, 2552 (military calendar)/ Space Station Cairo , Planet Earth**

Lord Hood woke up to sound of his alarm beside his bed. The noise sounded different than what he was used to hearing. Instead of the normal soft buzzing, it was a deep groan. The red light flashed against his eye lids and he was forced to open them. He looked at the light a moment. Suddenly he jolted awake.

"My god, this had better be just a bad dream or some dumb private's mistake." In a matter of moments he was dressed in his uniform and out the door. He rushed up to the command bridge onboard the Cairo Space station. The Cairo was basically a massive Super MAC gun platform capable of punching a hole straight through a Covenant capital ship with one shot.

"I want a report right now on what's going on." Hood demanded as soon as he opened the doors.

"Sir!" One of the deck officers saluted. "We have an incoming ship sir from deep space."

"Is it Covenant?"

"No sir. It's a UNSC frigate. Gold-class."

"Then what's..." Lord Hood stopped mid-sentence. "SPARTAN Gold Team? What are they doing here?" He knew the SPARTANS as acquaintances but had never been formally introduced to Gold Team.

"Well sir. It's doesn't sound good from what their transmission said."

"Where are they headed?"

"They're en-route for our station sir. Should I give them clearance?"

"Give them priority clearance. All other ships are to stand down until further notice."

"Yes sir." The officer turned back to his station.

Lord Hood stood upright. "If those SPARTANS are here, then there's definitely a damned good reason for it.

Gold Team watched anxiously as the frigate approached the Cairo station. Jesse was glad to find that one of Dr. Halsey's contacts was still alive. Lord Hood was one of the men who had supported the SPARTAN project and they had even saved his life on a couple of occasions. If anyone in the military would listen to them, it was Lord Hood.

The frigate closed in on the docks and Jesse turned to the computer console next to him. "Ready to go Sophitia?"

"Do you really have to ask?" She smirked and disappeared inside her crystal. Jesse extracted her and the inserted her into his armor. Gold Team moved at a quickened pace off the frigate and onto Space Station Cairo . The marines, officers and ODST's made way for the eight SPARTANS as they made their way to the bridge. Every head turned with worried looks when the doors opened and the SPARTANS set foot on the deck.

"Attention!" Jesse saluted and the others followed.

"At ease SPARTANS." Lord Hood nodded then looked straight at Jesse. "Gold Leader. What have you got to report?"

"Sir!" Jesse nodded. "My team and I were en-route to deliver supplies to Reach but when we jumped in-system, we discovered that it had been attacked."

"Yes, we know." Hood nodded grimly. "We lost a lot when the Covenant discovered and glassed Reach."

"Not everything sir." Jesse continued. "The Covenant left the job half finished."

"Half finished?" Hood raised a skeptical eye brow. "Son, the Covenant don't leave anything unfinished."

"Exactly." Sophitia piped up. "Gold Team went planet-side to investigate the sector of the planet that the Covenant hadn't touched to try and discover a means as to why. Gold Leader?" Jesse pulled her out of his armor and inserted her into the station's computer. The greek warrior appeared at the feet of Gold Leader. In the middle of the room appeared a hologram of the scorched surface of Reach. "Right here." She pointed her sword and the sector in the northern hemisphere lit up and zoomed in.

"What am I looking at here." Lord Hood asked and scratched the top of his bald head.

"Upon our investigation of ONI fortress Castle, we discovered that the Covenant had been excavating." The hologram zoomed in towards Castle. Sophitia showed the original topographic maps of Castle in green then the dug out section in red. "The Covenant began digging the mountain out taking every possible step to keep from bringing the entire mountain down. A holographic screen appeared as Sophitia zoomed in even closer to the area SPARTAN-029 and SPARTAN-049 explored. The holographic screen showed a recording from Jesse's HUD as they were exploring the caves.

"This doesn't seem to be part of the original excavations made before Castle was constructed." Lord Hood pointed out.

"On the contrary." Sophitia corrected. "These tunnels were part of the original mining project. But there was no record of the luminous crystal hieroglyphs." The AI turned to Lord Hood. "At least not that I know of. I scanned Dr. Halsey's computer there and only found trace bits of info as well as traces of two terminated AI's."

"You didn't mention the AI's before." Jesse remarked.

"I didn't notice them until I went through the files. Fragments of their data were scattered throughout the files."

Jesse wanted to say something but he kept his mouth shut.

Sophitia turned back to Lord Hood. "Would you happen to know anything about _King Under the Mountain_?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." Lord Hood squinted skeptically. "But go on."

Jesse watched his expression. As much as he was willing to trust Lord Hood, he wasn't sure if he would be telling the truth or not about something that may have been deemed classified.

"We eventually came to this chamber." Sophitia continued. The room with the holographic images appeared. "I was cross referencing these images with current images of Earths surface. They match up no less than eighty-nine percent." Sophitia brought up the images she had cross referenced and overlapped them with the cave images.

Every jaw in the room, except the SPARTANS, dropped.

"Sweat mother of Jesus." An officer gasped.

"There's no way." A woman muttered, shaking her head. "There's just no way."

The silence went on as the slideshow of holograms continued. Suddenly an Elite bellowed and lurched from the shadows. The staff onboard the bridge cursed and jumped in surprise.

"This is also the point where we discovered some Covenant Elites, left behind by the excavation team." Sophitia pointed out as they watched the SPARTANS beat down one of the aliens and exterminate the other. "We interrogated one of the Covenant's Elites and confirmed that the Covenant indeed know the location of Earth."

"So it's all come down to this." Lord Hood sighed and pressed his fingers against his forehead. Then he turned to his officers. "I want a message sent out to all UNSC forces across this sector and the three nearest systems. All fleets are to gather here and prepare to defend Earth."

"Yes sir!" The officers nodded and got to work.

"I want those messages encrypted as best you can. I don't want to risk those alien bastards listening in and getting the jump on us before we have time to prepare."

"Already on it sir." The lady before replied.

"Get every ship in this space to move in closer to Earth. If the Covenant do attack, then we will need the entire fleet to defend the planet. The Covenant's superior weapons will tear the fleet to shreds if they remain outside the kill zone. All Geo-synch platforms are to remain on yellow alert status, round the clock."

"Sir!" One of the officers called. "I have an urgent incoming object on radar."

Gold Team held their breath.

"Is it Covenant?"

"No sir. It's another UNSC ship. They're hailing us sir."

"Put the message through." Lord Hood ordered.

"Come in UNSC fleet master. This is Cortana. Do you read me?"

Gold Team's head turned to one another.

"Hey sis!" Sophitia jumped in before anyone could reply. "You're alive!"

"Sophitia? Is that you? What are you doing here at Earth?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Sophitia answered.

"We'll talk about it once we get there."

"We?"

"Yes. I'm here with the Master Chief as well as several other survivors from the attack on Reach."

"Very well." Sophitia nodded. "I'm sending you docking clearance."

"Thank you. I will see you shortly." Cortana clicked off the communicator.

"John's alive!" Luke sighed as if he had been holding his breath.

"That is such a relief." Kimberly nodded.

"I want to know what happened." Jesse said sternly.

"We'll soon find out." Lord Hood said.

**0700 Hours, October 7, 2552 (military calendar)/ Space Station Cairo , Planet Earth**

"Master Chief Petty Officer on deck!" Jesse called and Gold Team snapped a salute.

"At ease Gold Team." John saluted back.

"It's good to see you again sir." Jesse _smiled_.

"Likewise." John _smiled_ back, which he rarely did as leader.

"No offense though sir, but you look like hell." Jesse looked at his CO's MJOLNIR Mark V armor. It was burned, scorched, battered and worn down to a dull brown instead of the rich green it once was.

"We've been though hell and back." Cortana's voice came from his external speakers. "But not without taking several Covenant armadas out in the process."

"Care to explain what happened Master Chief?" Lord Hood suggested.

"Yes sir." John pulled a data crystal out of his utility belt and handed it to Lord Hood. "I would suggest that you look at it right away, sir."

"Gladly." Lord Hood took the crystal and inserted it into the computer.

"Jesus!" Sophitia gasped. She was always quick to examine data. "What on Earth did you two uncover?"

"Upon escaping Reach, we discovered a ring world which the Covenant call Halo. We thought it was a weapon or weapon stash." John explained. "But I later discovered that it was a weapon that would be used to destroy all sentient life within three light years."

"And what of this Flood parasite." Sophitia was picking through the data now, and finding the parts that she found to be the most interesting.

"Flood?" Jesse cocked his head.

"When we were on Halo we learned of a race which the Covenant refer to as the Forerunners." Cortana explained. "They created Halo as a last line of defense against the Flood which lay dormant there until the Covenant awakened it. Not exactly their smartest move." An image of a little bubble-like creature with tentacles appeared. "The infection form here attacks its host and uses its body to create a combat form and learns from its host how to fight. Granted the brain is in tact at that time." The little creature closed in on a marine and pierced into it with its tentacles. Everyone watched in horror and disgust as the marine collapsed and then its body began to writhe and twist as the infection form began taking over the body and converting it into its new grotesque shape. "The Flood almost escaped off of Halo but thanks to the Master Chief and the Pillar of Autumn's fusion core reactor, we were able to destroy Halo."

"And what of Captain Keyes?" Lord Hood asked.

"I regret to inform you sir, that the Captain was consumed by the Flood." Cortana brought up an image of a man's face pressing out of a hide that looked like that of the flood infection form.

"Dear lord." Lord Hood shook his head sadly. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"We destroyed most of the Covenant fleet that was preparing to make the jump to Earth, so we still have a little bit of time." Cortana said. "It wasn't easy, but when is it ever when the Covenant is involved?"

"Well at least we will be giving the fleets time to regroup here." Lord Hood nodded. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"I ordered them to go to sick bay sir. They've been through a lot." John replied.

"Very well." Lord Hood nodded approvingly. "You'd better get yourself there as well."

"Sir!" Jesse stepped forward. "Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Go ahead Gold Leader." Lord Hood nodded.

Jesse bobbed his head slightly and turned to the Master Chief. "Chief, you and who ever else might be with you would probably be better off coming with me. We have all the necessary equipment onboard our ship should any flash-cloning be needed."

Much to Jesse's surprise, John nodded. "Understood. I will go gather the others and meet you at the landing pad in five."

"Yes sir."" Jesse saluted. John saluted back and left. As he walked away, SPARTAN-117 smiled behind his visor. He could see the extreme difference in his old friend's attitude as a SPARTAN and a squad leader. With all of them there, they just might be able to save Earth.

**0800 Hours, October 7, 2552 (military calendar)/ Space Station Cairo , Planet Earth**

"It's good to see you guys." Fred _smiled_ as Gold Team entered the infirmary.

"It's good to see you too Fred." Jesse and his team _smiled _at Blue Team. John and Fred sat on stretchers next to Will and Linda who gave the traditional SPARTAN greeting.

Fred's stare moved to Marshal, Roy and Judy standing with the rest of Gold Team. Jesse noticed.

"When we found Reach the way it was, we went down to investigate and found Team Nineteen to be the only SPARTAN survivors."

"I see." Fred nodded. "I was worried that we were the only ones left."

"We are now." Marshal bowed his head slightly as they remembered their fallen brothers and sisters.

"And we've got a job to do." Jesse reminded them and they all straightened up. He turned to the Master Chief and Blue Team. "Let's get you all out of these old suits and into some fresh new armor." He had them stand up and he walked over to a panel on the wall. He pressed a series of keys and then a slight chirping noise could be heard. A door opened in the wall and a dozen Engineers floated out.

"Jesus!" Will gasped and whirled around with his hands clenched into fists. Blue Team was just as equally ready to fight.

"Stand down SPARTANS!" Jesse ordered. "At attention! Now!" Blue Team looked at him as if he were crazy. He couldn't see their facial expressions but he could read their body language perfectly. "I will explain as they go about giving you your medical treatment."

"It's okay Chief." Marshal nodded. "They can be trusted. For now."

John was the first to relax, which surprised Jesse but said nothing. One after another, Blue Team followed his lead.

"Years ago I suggested to ONI that we acquire a large population of Engineers to help us in the war against the Covenant. I learned of their amazing technological abilities while I was on the Covenant Command station. They have been allowing us to mass produce new weapons and armor suits for us SPARTANS. We have also taught them to be handy as doctors too." As Jesse continued his explanation as the Engineers went about their business, removing panels of the Mark V armor and soon had the entire outer armor removed.

"Remove the rest of your armor now." Jesse said. "They will begin inspecting you to see the extent of your injuries." Blue Team did as they were instructed. Gold Team could see that their fellow SPARTANS had really been put through hell and back. They were bruised, blistered and Linda had several lingering burns all over her body.

"Chief. May I ask to be informed about what else has happened in the past month?"

"I suppose I should since we're all going to be fighting together here." John nodded. He looked exhausted; like he hadn't slept in days.

John went on about explaining the story of Halo in greater detail. About how they had discovered the Flood, and how he had almost activated it due to it's nefarious guardian 343 Guilty Spark. He had managed to return to Reach after capturing a Covenant flag ship. He and the few surviving marines had gone down to Reach to investigate the means of the Covenant's activities as well to find some sort of artifact in the hands of Dr. Halsey. They had retreated into deep space where Dr. Halsey stole a small ship with a slipspace drive along with Kelly and disappeared without a word. The rest of the SPARTANS had made a dangerous infiltration of another Covenant Command station that was arming the fleet that was preparing to make the jump to earth. They had destroyed it and the fleet with the help of the flag ship they had captured. But it was all just to buy them some time.

"I see." Jesse nodded. He understood the situation even more clearly now. The bees nest had been hit and now the Covenant would be swarming for their greatest prize.

One of the Engineers floated over to Jesse and chirped several times. Jesse nodded and looked at John. "Chief. You're in the worst shape here so they are asking to work on you first. Lay down on one of the stretchers. They are going to perform a series of operations that may take some time. But you'll be perfectly fine."

"Understood." John nodded. He moved over to the stretcher. Jesse stood over him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The rest of Blue Team may be ready before you are sir. With your permission I would like to take them and the rest of my team down to Earth to acclimate their suits."

"Granted." John nodded as the Engineers moved in with their sedatives. In a couple of minutes, John was asleep. Jesse turned back around and caught Linda staring at John.

"Don't worry." He assured her. "He's in good hands."

She didn't answer.

"In the meantime, you all are instructed to do the same. The Engineers say that you're procedures wont take more than a day to fix but that may not be enough time. Lay down and let them do their duty." Blue Team acknowledged his command and did as he instructed. Soon they were all in a deep sleep as the Engineers went to work on them.

**0800 Hours, October 15, 2552 (military calendar)/ UNSC Military Training Preserve, Planet Earth**

"Impact in five...Four...Three...Two...One...!" Sophitia called. A split second later the ODST drop pods slammed into the ground. The doors burst open and Gold Team and Blue Team sprang from their cocoons. Blue Team was fully recovered from their flash cloning operations and each of them donned glistening clad green MJONIR Mark VI armor.

On the training range, ODST's popped up from their trenches with rifles raised.

"Move!" Jesse shouted and the SPARTANS ducked out of the way as paint rounds whizzed past them. The SPARTANS ducked behind several boulders and armed their weapons. They had been given paint-filled replicas of their current arsenal.

Jesse opened a private channel. "I want all shields off. We want them to know that we can get the job done with as little equipment as possible. " Ten acknowledgment lights blinked. "Good. Blue Team, you take left flank, Red Team, you take right. I want snipers covering us in an overlapping line of sight. Gold Two and Four, you're with Red Team." The others nodded. "On my mark." Jesse counted to five." Mark!"

Red Team was the first to move. They dashed out towards the cover of the trees on the right. The ODST's fired from the cover of their trenches. Two were hit from Marshal's BR55. They ducked down to avoid any more contact with the SPARTANS. Jesse had made it clear that he wanted moderate injuries in this exercise. The SPARTANS were to neutralize the soldiers with as few injuries as possible.

"Easier said than done, sir." Kimberly had remarked earlier. She fired two shots from her sniper rifle and put down two more marines.

Blue Team moved up the left flank, sticking to the shadows as they were known to do. Jesse followed alongside them. Blue Team was known for its stealthy tactics in missions above all other teams. The ODST's were completely distracted by Red Team. Easy kill.

Fred and Will rounded the trench where the ODST's were stationed and each lobbed a grenade into a trench.

"What the fuck!" One of the marines shouted as the grenade detonated and plastered him and his squad-mates with paint.

"Turrets!" Luke called." Fred and Will ducked into the trench as bullets whizzed over their heads.

"Shit!" Will cursed.

"Live rounds?" Fred gasped. "I thought this was just an exercise."

"it wouldn't be training unless we had a few surprises in the middle now would it?" Jesse chuckled from the cover of the trees.

"You knew about this didn't you sir?" Kimberly scowled from behind her faceplate.

"Only that there would be live rounds. I told them to insert them whenever and where ever they like. Just don't make it easy for us."

"Sounds fun." Dan slipped his probe scope out to survey they area. "Six in all sir. Three ground, three up in the trees."

"Motion trackers or heat sensors?" Fred asked.

"Both." Linda called from her hiding place. She sounded bored, but that was the way she was when she wanted to get serious about a situation.

"Pick your targets then." Jesse ordered. "We want to be able to neutralize any Covenant stationary guns with one shot if we can."

"Understood." The snipers replied. Linda fired one shot and the paint round splattered across the sensor of one of the turrets. Leslie and Kimberly followed her lead and downed three more turrets.

Luke rolled from behind the cover of one of the trees and lobbed a grenade. It detonated and the paint splattered across two more turrets. Linda finished off the last one.

After a long silence a voice crackled into Jesse's speakers. "That's all Gold Leader." Sophitia announced. "My scanners show that all signs of Blue and Red Team's armor are green. No pun intended."

"Good. Thank you Sophitia." Jesse nodded subconsciously and climbed out of the trench. "How is everyone feeling about their new armor?" He asked when his brothers and sisters grouped back around him.

"No complaints sir." Marshal replied.

"It feels good." Judy nodded. "Less bulky than our Mark V's."

"Just like putting on an old shoe, huh." Fred answered a slight hint of a chuckle in his voice.

"I have no issues with mine sir." Linda said. She took her helmet off and shook her short red hair. "But I do have one question. What about John's armor?"

"We have someone testing his armor out for him." Jesse replied he looked into the distance to see a pelican heading towards them.

"But only SPARTANS can use MJOLNIR battle armor." Will pointed out.

"So that means only a SPARTAN can get it done." Jesse nodded.

"So which SPARTAN is it?" Kimberly asked.

"SPARTAN-062."

"Maria?" Roy gasped. "I thought she retired years ago."

"Just because she's retired doesn't mean she can't give a hand when we need it. Besides, once a SPARTAN, always a SPARTAN. We're family."

"I see." Linda nodded. She stared out at the trees as the pelican landed. The SPARTANS and ODST's climbed aboard and gazed out at the valley of trees.

"This is it." LInda thought o herself. "The last paradise left." She opened a private com-channel with the rest of her brothers and sisters. "We fight. And we protect this planet no matter what." Her teammates didn't answer. The just winked their status lights once. The gesture put Linda's heart to rest. She was getting restless but she could now focus on her mission. She could fight with no distractions.


	6. Chapter 6

**0800 Hours, October 20, 2552 (military calendar)/ UNSC Compound Moffett , Planet Earth**

"If there's one thing I hate, it's waiting." Private Brizzolara groaned.

"Tell me about it." Saddler grumbled. "If we're going to be put on such high alert for so long, then they should at least tell us why."

"Seriously."

Just then there was a crackling over their radios,

"_All UNSC forces, be on full alert!_" It was a woman's voice. She sounded serious. "_Slipspace scanners have detected an incoming Covenant fleet. All gyo-synch platforms are to go to combat alert status immediately. I repeat. All UNSC forces. Prepare to defend Earth._" The message went on to repeat and the two privates looked at each other. Just then a light from behind them got their attention. Every light at the base flickered on and soon all the soldiers were up and dressed.

"Um...I think they're serious." Brizzolara said nervously.

"Th-the Covenant?" Saddler swallowed hard. "How could they have found Earth? I thought the Cole protocol stated that no UNSC ships were to inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth."

"Well they must have found us somehow." Sergeant Damon said from behind them. The two young soldiers jumped in surprise. "Get it together boys. This is for real."

"Y-yes sir!" The privates snapped a shaky salute.

"Good. Be on alert. We don't know how long it will be until the Covenant get ground-side. But when they do, we're going to give them a welcoming committee they won't soon forget."

"Yes sir!" The privates chimed in again, more confident in themselves this time.

"That's what I'm talking about. Now you two sound like soldiers! Now keep alert and report in if you see or hear anything."

"We won't let you down Sergeant." Brizzolara saluted.

"I know you won't." Damon nodded before heading back to the main compound.

**1900 Hours, October 20, 2552 (military calendar)/ UNSC Compound Moffett , Planet Earth**

Several hours had passed. The day had turned into night and now it was moving towards early morning. The sun was about to rise in less than an hour. Brizzolara and Saddler had been kept up to date on the Covenant attack. Three hours after the announcement from UNSC A.I., Cortana, the Covenant fleet engaged the UNSC forces surrounding the planet. The Covenant had destroyed two of their MAC platforms and had pushed through the opening to get to the surface. A single destroyer, In Amber Clad, had taken pursuit and cleared out the first wave of Covenant forces. However, the Covenant ship that had landed jumped into slipspace while inside the city of and had caused a shock-wave. The blast devastated a massive part of the African sector and had wiped Mombassa of the face of the planet.

"You're shaking." Brizzolara pointed out.

"What?" Saddler asked, pulled from his trance.

"You're shaking."

Saddler looked down at his hands that were tightly gripped around his BR55. Then he looked at his teammate. "Well, you are too."

"Well if I don't I'm going to shit myself." Brizzolara stammered.

"Contact! Contact!" A marine's voice shouted suddenly and both marines jumped. "We have Covenant dropships on approach from the east! All units get to your battle stations and prepare to defend this base!"

"Oh god!" Saddler gulped. "I hope I'm ready for this." He and Brizzolara hurried along the perimeter of the base. "I never thought I would be actually fighting the Covenant when I joined the military. I thought the reserves never fought at all."

"Well I guess that changes since the fight has hit home. " Brizzolara replied; a cold hard tone in his voice. Off in the distance they could hear a soft humming drawing closer. The two marines reached the gun tower and gave the surrounding area a sweep with the turrets.

"I think I see something!" Saddler called.

Brizzolara peered through his binoculars. In the glow of the rising sun he could see them. Dozens of Phantom armored dropships skimming low over the trees.

"How many do you count?" A voice called from bellow. Brizzolara looked down to see several more of squad members standing bellow the tower.

"Too damn many." Brizzolara replied.

"Here they come!" Saddler called as the phantoms closed in.

"Towers! Take out those dropships!" The Sergeant's voice called over the radio.

The turrets let loose with a a barrage of shelling fire. The lead phantom was hit and jolted from the impact. It's flight path dipped downward but it continued to push forward. The other dropships took several hits as well but continued to press on.

"Look out!" Brizzolara shouted. He grabbed Saddler and the two dove out of the tower as several plasma spikes showered their tower. They hit the ground hard and retreated several yards as their tower collapsed in a smoldering pile of twisted metal. When they looked back their teammates were gone. The only remaining trace of them was a puddle of liquid rock.

"Move it you two!" Sergeant Damon shouted. He rushed over from one of the other destroyed guard towers and pulled the marines to their feet. The phantoms were less than one hundred yards from the base when several of them were hit with a salvo of missiles. Brizzolara and Saddler turned to see a squad of pelicans fly over the base.

The phantoms returned fire. The pelican rose up over the phantom's range of fire and fired several more salvos down on top of the enemy. Several of the phantoms moved to adjust their angle of fire. The remaining gun towers fired and hit their exposed underbellies. Three phantoms exploded and dropped but the plasma turrets on the others turned on the guard towers. Marines screamed as they were hit with super heated plasma and metal. Some threw themselves from the towers to put themselves out but were dead before they hit the ground.

"Sir! We have trouble!" A marine called over the radio. "We have contacts! Grunts and Jackals! They're pushing through the trees! The dropships must have dropped them off on approach!"

"Can you count how many?" Damon asked. He and the other marines were moving back away from the fence and letting the pilots handle the dropships. They would be able to out maneuver them and away from the base if they stayed smart.

"Impossible to tell sir! They're everywhere! We'll try and hold them off! Let 'em have it!" The sounds of gunfire could now be heard over the radio.

"Uh! Sir! What is that!" Brizzolara stammered. Damon turned back towards the woods. Deep inside the forest a faint blue and green glow could be seen. And it was getting brighter.

"Form a defensive position!" The Sergeant ordered. "We can't let them take this base!"

"Yes sir!" The marines shouted and took cover behind whatever they could.

"Wait until they come out into the open!"

Just then a light appeared through the trees. Then another. And another. Soon there was a field of green and blue lights twinkling through the trees as the Covenant forces moved in. Grunts carried plasma pistols and the vulture-like Jackals raised their plasma rifles. They paused, and squawked amongst themselves.

Suddenly they charged across the field.

"Now!" Damon roared over the thunder of footsteps. The marines popped out of their hiding spots and tore into the aliens. Jackals and Grunts fell to the ground but their teammates pushed ahead over the bodies and towards the base.

The Jackals skidded to a halt and turned on their energy shields. The bullets bounced off the forcefields leaving

Damon switched the COM-channel. "I wanted those those short sword fighters in the air three minutes ago!"

"We're doing our best to get airborne sir!" A pilot's voice crackled over the radio. "Our own teammates are defending the landing pads! If they fall back we won't be around long enough to take off!"

"Damn it!" Damon cursed and hurled a frag-grenade into the lines of Covenant ground troops. He turned to Brizzolara and Saddler. "Get to the warthogs and try and clear out the landing pads long enough for our boys to get off the ground! We have to clear these damned ground troops out!"

"Yes sir!" Brizzolara saluted and took off with Saddler close behind. The Covenant troops spotted the two marines and fired.

"Duck!" Saddler shouted as several plasma bolts screamed past his head.

"Keep moving!" Brizzolara called and continued to rush forward.

"Look out!" A marine shouted and shoved Saddler out of the way. Saddler hit the ground and whirled around. The needle shards protruded from his teammate's chest armor then detonated a second later. The marine cried in pain and fell dead at Saddler's feet. Saddler was frozen.

"Move!" Brizzolara pulled his friend back to reality and behind a corner. "We have to keep going! Or there's going to be more casualties like him! C'mon!"

"R-right!" Saddler nodded dumbly and followed close. The two of them reached the garage and Saddler got into the gunner position of the nearest warthog while Brizzolara opened the garage door. He was hurrying back to the jeep when his partner spoke. "Um...Brizz."

Brizzolara stopped and turned around. As the door opened up he could see the eerie green glow of Jackal shields and plasma weapons. The aliens' eyes seemed to glow in the early morning sun as they saw their prey that had presented itself to them.

A Jackal screeched and fired its weapon. Brizzolara dove to the ground and rolled beneath another warthog.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Saddler yelled and pulled the trigger on the warthog's LAAG. The Jackals were too late to raise their shields and Saddler was able to mow down a hole in their formation. The Jackals fell to the ground and several Grunts followed. The survivors barked in alarm and began to retreat. Saddler turned to Brizzolara who was picking himself off the floor. "Get in! Let's go!"

Brizzolara didn't argue. He hopped into the driver's seat and hit the gas. The fleeing Grunts were chased down and crushed beneath the warthog's massive tires. The marines sped around to the northern end of the base. What they saw was nothing but violence and gore. Bodies littered the concrete, human and Covenant. Marines struggled to retrieve their wounded and push the approaching enemies back.

"Crush them all!" Saddler hollered over the thunder of weapons fire.

"My pleasure." Brizzolara smirked and put the pedal to the metal. Grunts and Jackals barked and squawked in surprise as the LRV bulldozed into their lines.

"Take that bitch!" Saddler shouted as he filled the scrambling aliens full of bullets.

Brizzolara spun the jeep around and drove up until the vehicle created a small barrier between the marines and the scrambling aliens. He hopped out and took cover behind the blood-covered hood. "Get to the garage and get some more hogs! We're going to need them!"

"On it!" A marine nodded and turned back towards the main complex with several other marines covering him.

"Yeah! Get some!" Saddler hollered. "You want some? I got some for you! How 'bout you! Yeah you!" The Jackals were struggling to get their shields up to protect them.

"Frag out!" Brizzolara called. A moment later a shower of frag-grenades rained down on the Covenant. Grunts screamed and Jackals squawked before being blown to pieces. Seven warthogs roared around the corner. The remaining Covenant troops were cut down before they could turn tail and retreat.

After the sounds of gunfire fell silent Brizzolara exhaled. The first wave had been pushed back. But at what cost to their own forces.

"Sergeant? Are you there?" Brizzolara called over the radio.

"What is it Private?" The Sergeant sounded like he was in pain.

"We've pushed back the Covenant on this end of the base sir. Do you require any assistance?"

"We're okay for now." The Sergeant gasped. "Thanks to the other warthogs, we were able to push the lines back here as well."

"What are your orders now sir?"

"Take care of any wounded you might have and get out whatever equipment you can. Once the next wave hits, we'll need all the heavy hitters we can."

"Yes sir." Brizzolara acknowledged.

"How long do you think we have until they try again?" One of the marines asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Saddler shrugged from his gunner position. No sooner had he spoke than a blue light flew through the air and attached to one of the warthogs. The passenger gave a startled yell before the plasma grenade detonated. The marines and the jeep disappeared in flash of light and a loud bang. The force of the blast sent another warthog flying and into Saddler.

"Private! What the hell was that!" Sergeant Damon called.

"I don't know sir! Something just took out one of out hogs! I think it's..." Brizzolara was cut off by the screaming over the radio channel. The sounds of plasma fire, and broken bones could be heard and Brizzolara was forced to cease contact.

"We've got contacts! Lots of enemy contacts!" A marine shouted and fired his SMG wildly.

"I don't see anything!" Another hollered.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" All heads turned to see a marine sliced clean in half by a floating energy sword.

"Look out!" Another man shouted as more swords appeared out of thin air. Marines raised their weapons to fire. Brizzolara and several others fell back as they watched their squad mates get cut down by the camouflaged aliens.

"Where are they coming from!"

"Who cares! Just shoot!" Bullets started flying through the air. Most hit the warthogs and bounced off their armor plating. After a moment the firing stopped.

"Did we get them?" One of the marines gasped as he wiped the sweat from his face. A split second later a plasma blade pierced through his chest. Another marine jumped back in shock as his friend fell dead at his feet. The Elite deactivated its cloaking shield and snarled at the human. The marine got his bearings and raised his gun to fire. He wasn't fast enough.

Another energy blade punched straight through the marine splattering his blood across the pavement. More screams pierced the air as Elites attacked with plasma swords.

"Let 'em have it!" Brizzolara shouted trying to keep from losing his cool. Three guns fired. Then two. The next thing he knew, Brizzolara was completely surrounded. The Elites tightened their grip on their swords and moved in for the final kill. Their eyes glistened in anticipation and their mandibles clicked excitedly. The Elites paused to look at each other, each looking to see which of them would get the pleasure of finishing off the last human on the premises.

At last one Elite moved forwards. Brizzolara's legs were trembling and his eyes were wide with horror.

"Get down." A voice called from inside his helmet. Brizzolara let his knees buckle and he fell to the ground. A split second later he heard the sound of an SMG and an agonized cry from the Elite. Purple blood splattered across the ground and all over him. The Elite fell dead in front of him, eyes staring out at the marine.

The other Elites turned. Three were sprayed with bullets and dropped to the ground. Before the other Elites could raise their swords three assault rifles fired. The seven-foot aliens howled as the armor piercing rounds cut them down.

"Are you alright marine?"

Brizzolara opened his eyes and looked up. Standing before him was a SPARTAN in glistening red and gold armor.

"I'm...I'm fine sir." Brizzolara stammered and got to his feet. He was still shaking. The SPARTAN nodded slightly at his answer.

"Red Leader, what's you're status?" Jesse called as he turned away from Brizzolara.

"All enemy forces have been eliminated sir." Marshal replied.

"Good. Are there any survivors?"

"No sir." Marshal shook his head as he looked at the hundreds of dead marines strewn across the ground. "The ones that weren't killed by the Jackals and Grunts, the Elites finished off."

Jesse let out a faint sigh. "We need to move on towards the main city. A Covenant carrier has been reported heading in that direction."

"Jesse sir. Bringing Red Team around to your location." Marshal's status light winked.

Jesse looked down at Brizzolara. "Can you still operate your weapon marine?"

Brizzolara looked down at his bloodstained gun then back up at the SPARTAN. "Sir. With your permission. I would like to get some fresh ammunition from the armory."

"Very well." Jesse nodded. "Red Leader, meet Gold Team at the armory. We're going to take as much ammunition as we can carry."

"Understood." Marshal acknowledged.

**2200 Hours, October 20, 2552 (military calendar)/ En-route to New San Francisco , Planet Earth**

The Warthogs sped along the freeway. The road was completely abandoned. Cars were left as the civilians had fled as soon as the news of the Covenant finding Earth had hit home. Gold and Red Team encountered minimal resistance along the way. Pockets of Grunts and Jackals had been brought down with relative ease.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling." Dan muttered over the Team COM.

"I agree." Ray piped up. All we've seen lately are the low level ranks of the Covenant. We haven't seen any Elites since Moffett base."

"Not even so much as a Hunter." Leslie added as she swung the gauss cannon around, surveying the landscape.

"According to what I'm detecting on the Covenant Battle Network, most of the Covenant troops are being deployed within the city." Sophitia reported. "It looks like they're trying to get to the main power supply to the space station just over our position."

Jesse stayed quiet. Kimberly noticed his silence. He was in his state of concentration. The state that he went into during a mission when he was totally in tune with his training and leadership skills. Kimberly relaxed just slightly. She knew her team leader well enough to know that they would be able to pull this mission off.

Jesse brought the gauss hog to a stop just outside a subway station in the city of South San Francisco. Off in the distance he could see a Covenant cruiser stationed over the city of Old San Francisco.

"Sophitia." Jesse started.

"Already on it." The AI replied. A split second later she brought up a map of the city. "Our best bet at getting into the city would bee to take the subway system. The have been left unattended so the trains shouldn't be operational."

"Sounds good to me." Luke nodded.

"We will follow the subway into the middle of Old San Francisco and take out that cruiser. We will need that thing disposed of before we can take out the remaining forces in the city. "

"Then I suggest we move out." Sophitia suggested. "The longer we take the more time the Covenant have to work against us."

"Let's move out SPARTANS!" Jesse ordered and headed into the subway.

The walk to the city was quiet and uneventful. It took a little over an hour to reach the spot where Jesse wanted to do his reconnoissance work. The SPARTANS reached the station at the central plaza and knelt down. On the waiting pad of the station sat a squad of Grunts; all of which were asleep. Jesse shook his head from side to side slightly to indicate hostile forces were close. His teammates crouched lower and tightened their grip on their weapons. He raised his hand and made the signal for 'R' and flashed his index finger twice. Marshal, Ray, Judy and Brizzolara moved up and silently slipped down the tracks and past the snoring Grunts to the opposite end of the station.

Marshal flashed his status light twice to indicate all was clear. Gold Team moved up onto the station platform and maneuvered around the Grunts stepping silently in their MJOLNIR armor. Jesse moved towards the stairs and pulled his probe chord from his helmet out and slipped it up over the top of the stairs.

The city was crawling with Covenant troops. Jackals and Engineers moved about the streets. Grunts slept or toddled back and forth. Just then a foot set down next to the probe and Jesse's heart-rate spiked slightly. Jesse moved the probe up to see a massive gorilla-like alien staring out across the streets.

Brutes. John and Blue Team had encountered them while attacking a Covenant mobile command station. These aliens were tough to take down and far stronger than the Elites. Jesse moved the probe around a bit more and saw more Brutes patrolling the area. He withdrew the probe and dropped back into the subway.

He gestured for his team to fall back. As Gold Team moved back towards the tracks Jesse gestured for Luke to follow him. He grabbed a pack of C4 and set up a remote detonator and set up the explosives on the north side of the station. Luke followed his lead and rigged up the southern end before slipping back into the shadows. Once they were a good ways down the tunnel again, Jesse consulted Sophitia.

"The streets are pretty hot. We need a way to get up to the street level without getting seen."

"I hear you." Sophitia agreed. "I have been looking at where this subway leads and it looks like there is a parking garage about three and half clicks east of our position. The garage opens directly into the subway and in two stories bellow street level."

"Perfect. Those Brutes are going to be a problem if we get into a fire fight."

"Brutes?" Brizzolara asked.

"A new species of Covenant recently recorded by some of our other SPARTANS." Sophitia explained. "Much more dangerous than the Elites."

"This day just keeps getting better." Brizzolara cycled the bolt in his BR55.

They continued through the subway for a little ways until the tunnel opened up to a parking garage. It was empty. Jesse looked at the holographic map of the city and studied it carefully. The garage was the basement to tall pyramid-shaped building and was one of the largest skyscrapers in Old San Francisco.

"Here's the plan." Jesse whispered. "We're going up to the top and get a good birds-eye view of the city. From there we'll continue with our mission. I want to know the concentration of Covenant forces in this city." Every acknowledgment light winked. Jesse nodded and took point.

The SPARTANS moved up from the subway station to the next level of the parking garage. All at once they froze and Brizzolara nearly bumped into them. Jesse motioned for the SPARTANS to take cover. Gold Team and Red Team slipped into the shadows and Brizzolara ducked back behind a car. Jesse's motion sensor picked up two objects coming their way and he could hear voices.

"I hate waiting." One of the Brutes growled in annoyance. "The Captain is still searching for the humans who have been reported to be hiding out somewhere in the city."

"As soon as they find out their location we'll be able to feast on some fresh meat at last." The other Brute replied.

"Well it had better be soon. The more I wait the more I feel like smashing something." The Brutes passed by the SPARTANS position. Both carried their high velocity grenade launchers known as Brute Shots.

Jesse looked over at Dan and made a slight pump of his fist. Dan nodded ever so slightly.

"Wait." The first Brute came to a halt. "Do you smell that?"

The second Brute lifted its nose to the air. "Yes. Smells. Human. A filthy human."

"And it's close."

Behind the car, Brizzolara felt his blood run cold.

"Split up. If there are humans here we will be the first to take them."

The two Brutes took separate ends of the garage. Brizzolara moved deeper into the darkness of the garage, making sure to keep his head low and move as quietly as possible.

Jesse and Dan made their way through the garage and quickly closed the gap on the Brutes. When he was close enough Jesse lunged forward. He crushed the Brute's neck with the butt of his assault rifle. The Brute fell to the floor and didn't move. Jesse crushed its head beneath his boot to make sure it stayed down before picking up its Brute Shot.

Dan closed in on his target as well. The alien was getting close to Brizzolara's hiding spot. The marine had backed himself into a corner and held his battle rifle up as the Brute closed in on him. Just as the brute was about to turn the corner Dan clubbed the alien in the back of its skull with the butt of his shotgun. The alien staggered forward dazed by the blow and turned around with purple blood trickling from its eyes, nose and mouth. When it saw Dan it opened its jaws. The roar was turned to a gag as Dan plunged the barrel of his shotgun into the Brute's mouth and pulled the trigger. The shot was muffled by the sound of Brute brains splattering against the wall. The creature fell in a furry pile next to Brizzolara.

"Thanks for the assist." The marine breathed a sigh of relief as if he had been holding his breath.

"You would do the same for me." Dan bobbed his head slightly. The two of them returned to the other SPARTANS.

"Cutting it a little close there." Leslie pointed out when Dan walked up next to her.

"Don't worry, I had us covered." Dan assured her.

"Agreed. Red Team, you have point."

"Yes sir." Marshal acknowledged. He motioned his team forward. Red Team disappeared into the shadows. A minute later they flashed their status lights. Gold Team moved up. Red Team had downed a pair of Jackals who lay off to the side. As Brizzolara followed Marshal disarmed one of the aliens and tossed its shield gauntlet to the marine who promptly caught it.

"Looks like there's a couple of entrances to this subway station." Marshal whispered.

"Three to be exact." Sophitia pointed out. "The city is crawling with Covenant troops. If we were to get into a fire fight, we'd have the entire city on top of us in a matter of minutes. with no way out."

"Red Leader. You and your team take the northeast entrance. I want charges set up so that we can lure the Covenant in and have them buried alive." Jesse marked Red Team's objective on their map. "After that, I want you to move on to the bridge. I want to make sure that the Covenant on the other side are stranded and cut off from reinforcements and supplies."

"Yes sir." Marshal nodded. "Red Team, move out."

Jesse turned to Dan. "Gold Two. You and Gold Five take the far west entrance."

"Yes sir." Dan Nodded. He looked at Brizzolara. "You're with us marine."

"Yes sir." Brizzolara perked up and hurried after them.

Jesse waited for them to leave before turning to his group. "We've got work to do. Let's crush them under our boots."

"Yes sir." Kimberly and Luke nodded.

"My advice, Gold Leader, is to set up the charges so that the buildings fall in a sort of domino pattern."

"If one falls, then so do the rest." Jesse pondered the idea for a moment. "I like the idea but i think we should refrain from being demolitionists and focus more on tactical strikes."

"Understood." Sophitia said, clearly disappointed that the SPARTAN had declined her plan. If Jesse hadn't known any better we would have sworn that the AI was eager to destroy the Covenant.

"Sir!" Dan hissed. "We have a confirmed sighting of a Covenant Scarab on our end."

On instinct Jesse froze. The Scarab walkers were towering behemoths used for invasions of cities. "Show me."

"It's parked about three hundred yards north of our position." Leslie reported as she hooked up her camera to her sniper scope. Sure enough the Scarab was parked between two sky scrapers. Bellow it, Grunts snoozed in its shadow.

"Gold Two, I want you to do whatever it takes to bring that thing down." Jesse ordered after a moments thought.

"Any suggestions?" Dan asked.

"There are four main points close to the Scarab that will help bring it down quick and easy." Sophitia piped up. She marked three skyscrapers on the map and the points where they needed to be destroyed. The last spot she marked was the spot directly under the Scarab's front foot. "That spot directly under the foot is crucial. It will throw the Scarab off balance and then it won't be able to use its main gun afterwards."

"Understood." Dan confirmed. "Gold Two out."

"This is going to be a tough one." Dan said as he turned back to Leslie and Brizzolara.

"Then let's get going sir." Brizzolara raised his BR55. "No sense standing around talking about it."

"He's right." Leslie agreed as she looked at the short marine out of the corner of her eye. "Let's bring that thing to its knees."

Dan smiled behind his faceplate. He was glad his team was focused on their mission. Leslie took point and quickly darted across the street to the nearest alley. She signaled for Brizzolara to follow once the area was fairly secure. The marine followed her path and Dan followed after that.

The alley split into three entrances and the soldiers took the route that headed them in the direction of the Scarab. Brizzolara moved up in front of Leslie and poked his head around the corner. "We've got sleepers." He whispered when he turned back to the SPARTANS.

"Take them out." Dan ordered. "Quietly."

Brizzolara nodded and drew his combat knife. Leslie followed the marine and crept up to the first two Grunts. Leslie crushed the skull in of the stocky little alien and Brizzolara plunged his blade into the skull of his intended target. When he looked up Leslie had already bashed the heads in of two more Grunts. Brizzolara hurried to catch up and killed two more of the aliens before Leslie could finish them all off.

"Area clear." Leslie reported. Dan moved around the corner and to the edge of the alley. He and Leslie surveyed the area with their helmet probes.

"Go. Now." Dan ordered in a forced whisper. He and Leslie darted across the street with Brizzolara sprinting to keep up. As the marine paused to catch his breath Dan moved up to the edge of the alley. He was about to peer around the corner when a Jackal turned the corner. The alien paused, clearly caught of guard due to boredom. It opened it's mouth to screech and raised its plasma rifle.

In a lightning fast movement, Dan grabbed the Jackal by its vulture-like jaws and ripped its skull in half. There was a muffled howl as the alien writhed on the ground. A moment later everything was quiet.

"That was close." Brizzolara sighed with relief.

"We have to keep moving." Dan ordered. "We're almost there."

"Um, sir." Brizzolara called the the Spartans attention.

"What is it?" Dan asked as he walked back to the marine.

Brizzolara knelt down next to a manhole that led to the sewers. "I can take care of the scarab from under ground. You two can get to work with bringing down the house on it."

Dan and Leslie exchanged glances. Spartans were not particularly accustomed to working with other marines but now was not the time to get into that dispute.

"Permission granted." Dan bobbed his head. He watched as Brizzolara climbed down into the sewer. Once he signaled that all was okay Dan placed the manhole cover back on.

"Gold Leader, this is Gold Two." Dan reported over the team COM-channel.

"I read you Gold Two. What's your status?"

"The explosives are set. We are ready to begin the fire works whenever you're ready."

"Understood. Good work."

"Get ready for some heavy combat soon." Sophitia warned. "This is going to get noisy really quick."

Jesse turned to Kimberly. "Okay Kimsey. We're going to need you and Luke to get inside that cruiser to plant the bombs. I'll be running rabbit down here to keep their attention away from you two."

"Just be careful sir." Kimberly pressed two fingers against his faceplate.

"Aren't I always?" Jesse chuckled. "Move out. We don't know how long until that Scarab decides to move." He turned to Luke. "Let me know once you two are inside."

"Yes sir." Luke nodded. He hefted the brute shot Jesse had acquired in the subway. He crept from their hiding spot a few hundred yards away from the carrier. The two SPARTANS darted in and out from between alien crates and parked vehicles. Luke paused a couple of times to grab some extra ammunition for his brute shot. In less than three minutes they had reached the gravity lift. Grunts unloaded supplies as Jackals and Brutes supervised.

"I don't see any opening." Kimberly whispered after surveying the area.

"Then let's make one." Luke hefted a frag grenade from his belt and hurled it a good two hundred yards away on the opposite side of the gravity lift. The explosion caught a Jackal and a few grunts but grabbed the attention of all the other Covenant forces surrounding the lift.

"Blasted Grunts! What did they do now?" A Brute growled obviously annoyed with baby sitting the little aliens.

"I'm not sure. Let's check it out." The Brutes trudged off towards the direction of the explosion.

"Now is our chance. Move!" Luke hissed. He and Kimberly sprinted from their surveillance spot and jumped into the lift. Almost instantly they rose into the air and into the cargo hold of the carrier. The two SPARTANS let their weapon barrels sweep through the room. A squad of Grunts were milling about on thew far side of the room. A few Jackals patrolled the area. Kimberly kept her sniper rifle on them as she followed Luke into a corner near a battalion of parked Wraith mortar tanks.

"Gold Leader, this is Gold Three. We are inside the belly of the beast."

"Roger Gold Three. Let me know when you get back down here."

"Yes sir. Good luck." Kimberly sighed and switched off the COM-channel. She was worried about her squad leader taking on all the Covenant forces on the ground by himself but she had an objective to complete herself. She took another deep breath and continued to sweep through the cargo hold.

"Shall we start the party?" Sophitia asked as soon as Jesse had clicked off with Kimberly.

"Gladly." Jesse nodded. "Gold Two. Take that Scarab down now. Red Leader, detonate your charges by the central plaza in sixty seconds. Give the alien bastards time to group." Two acknowledgment lights winked green.

Off in the distance came the sound of three muffled booms. The echo seemed to grab the attention of the other Covenant surrounding the gravity lift. They began to mobilize and move out towards the noise. As soon as they were close enough Jesse sprang out with his SMG's drawn and cut through the first row of Grunts and Jackals. The aliens squawked and barked in surprise and alarm. Jesse dropped his empty magazines and had his guns reloaded on less than two seconds. The aliens raised their weapons and the Jackals crouched behind their shields. Jesse lobbed a frag grenade under their shields and sent the vulture aliens blood splattering against their shields. The Grunts immediately went into a panic. Jesse stuck a plasma grenade to one as it retreated into a crowd of its fellow Grunts.

The explosives from Red Team sent another boom echoing throughout the city.

Jesse ducked back behind a weapon crate as plasma bolts whizzed past him. He rolled forward and took cover behind a stack of crates and armed his assault rifle. "Give me an angle Sophitia."

"Thirty-two degrees." Sophitia replied. Jesse felt a slight tingle in his arm and tossed a frag grenade back over his head. A moment later a loud thump vibrated through the crates.

The SPARTAN charged out from behind his cover spot and fired his assault rifle. The Jackals and Grunts were already mangled and struggling to regroup. The weakened ones fell easily and the others were quickly picked off.

"Look! A demon is here!" A Brute roared.

"Kill him!" Another Brute fired its plasma rifle. The SPARTAN ducked and fired into the Brute's face as the red plasma bolts whizzed past him. The rest of the Brute pack sent a shower of plasma bolts at the SPARTAN. Jesse took cover as the heated plasma peppered his shields and dropped them to fifty percent.

"These new plasma rifles these Brutes are carrying have a much higher energy level and have a more rapid rate of fire." Sophitia pointed out. "So be careful."

"Thanks for the heads up Sophitia. "Jesse bobbed his head slightly. His shield meter recharged a second later.

"I would suggest using one of those Ghosts. It might make a good battering ram on those Brutes."

Jesse looked to his left at a row of parked Ghosts. He sprinted from his spot and immediately the plasma fire started up again. The SPARTAN grabbed a dropped plasma grenade, armed it and hurled it at the Brutes. The aliens dove out of the way as two were burned away in the blast. The distraction gave the SPARTAN all the time he needed to hop on one of the Ghosts and speed right for the Brutes. The plasma fire continued to pepper the Ghost and suddenly three explosions hit the Ghost. High velocity grenades.

"Brute shots. Be careful." Sophitia warned.

"Noted." Jesse grabbed his last frag grenade and rose off the seat of the Ghost. He jumped off the Covenant vehicle and skidded to a halt on the asphalt. The Ghost slammed into three Brutes and the frag grenade detonated a split second later. The explosion sent shards of metal spraying everywhere as well as plasma spilling over the pack of Brutes. Jesse polarized his visor to defend against the bright light.

When his visor returned to normal the Brutes lay in a writhing, twisted mesh on the ground. Most were severely wounded; others lay dead. The SPARTAN slung his MA5C over his back and drew his SMG's again. He walked over to a Brute struggling to get up and fired into its face. A fellow Brute growled angrily and the SPARTAN silenced it with several puffs from his SMG's. Another Brute howled in anguish at watching his teammates get picked off like fish in a barrel before falling dead a moment later.

Out of nowhere a furious roar cut through the air. SPARTAN-029 looked up to see three Brute captains carrying Brute shots coming down from the gravity lift. He paused for a moment.

"Gold Three and Four are still alive." Sophitia reported as if reading his mind. She brought up their Team's Roster for him to see. "They must have bypassed their position."

Jesse drew his assault rifle again and leveled it at the Brute captains as they set down on the platform bellow the carrier. As soon as the first Brute set foot outside the protection of the gravity field Jesse pulled the trigger. Armor piercing rounds tore through the Brute's knees and it fell to the ground howling in pain. The other two Brutes hopped out the energy field and were in the process of helping up their wounded comrade when the SPARTAN chucked a plasma grenade at them. The two standing Brutes dove to the side as the blast engulfed the wounded alien. The force of the explosion sent the fallen captain's brute shot skidding towards the Spartan's feet. He picked it up and looked over the weapon. The plasma had melted the front and sealing off the barrel.

"Useless." Sophitia mumbled almost softly.

"You should not have killed him!" A gruff voice snarled angrily. Jesse looked to see the two Brutes that had escaped with minor burns had turned their killing eyes on him. They threw down their grenade launchers and hunched over on all fours.

"I think they're mad." Sophitia pointed out with a tone of caution in her voice.

The Brutes bared their fangs and charged.

"Kimberly. What's your status?" Dan called over the Team COM-channel.

"We've just about finished up here." Kimberly answered as she let the barrel of her sniper rifle scan the ship back and forth. "How are things going down there?"

"Just picking off the last of the stragglers from that Scarab." A video from Dan's HUD appeared on Kimberly's visor. The Scarab was berried bellow tons of rubble with only parts of its leg joints sticking out. Grunts, Jackals and Brutes were crawling over the wreckage and getting picked off by Dan, Leslie and Brizzolara.

"Red Team, what's your status?"

"We have no survivors sighted." Marshal replied. "Red Team is currently en-route to our second objective."

"Roger that."

"We're all set." Luke reported.

"A demon has been sighted around the gravity lift." The SPARTANS twitched in surprise as three Brute captains with brute shots hustled towards the center of the gravity lift.

"Jesse's still alive." Luke pointed out as he checked their Team Roster.

"Let's get out of here and blow this place." Kimberly rose and shouldered her battle rifle. Luke set the detonator on the fury-tac nuke and followed after Kimberly with his M90 at the ready. They SPARTANS moved silently across the chamber to the first set of doors. As they neared the doors, they opened. A squad of Jackals squawked in surprise. Kimberly squeezed the trigger on her rifle four times and four of the Jackals dropped dead. Luke pumped a shell into the faces of the remaining two aliens before they could get their shields up.

"Keep moving." Kimberly urged. Staying put in this place would mean certain death; even for a SPARTAN. They ran down the hall and made an abrupt turn into a new hall as a door farther ahead opened and a pair of Hunters lumbered down the hall.

"That was close." Luke muttered.

"We don't have time to get into a fire fight with the Covenant right now." Kimberly whispered as she slowed down. She poked her head around a corner and knelt down in a covering fire position. Luke darted across the three-way intersection of the hall and Kimberly followed.

"We should be reaching the hanger soon." Luke reported. He had been checking over his maps given to him from John and Blue Team from their previous Covenant boarding operations. "Two more doors ahead then make an immediate right."

"Roger." Kimberly acknowledged in a machine-like tone that Luke immediately recognized. She worked extremely well with Jesse, but when she was on her own, Kimberly went into a sort of state that would remind him of Linda. Right now Kimberly was the most serious warrior on the ship.

The SPARTANS passed through another pair of blast doors. Up ahead was a squad of Grunts. They hadn't noticed the SPARTANS who bulldozed over them. The aliens barked in alarm as Luke dropped a frag grenade as he pushed through the last of them. A muffled whump could be heard as the next set of blast doors closed behind the SPARTANS.

"Just ahead." Luke reported. He and Kimberly came to a halt just outside the hanger. They checked their motion sensors. The hanger was crawling with enemy contacts. Kimberly paused. "I've got you covered." Luke reported and pumped one more shell into the chamber.

Kimberly opened the doors and stared directly at the Brute in front of her. The gorilla-like alien roared and raised its plasma rifle. Kimberly pulled the trigger of her BR55 and put a hole clean through the Brute's head. Another Brute bellowed angrily and fired its plasma weapon. Kimberly ducked and blew out its knees and brought the monster down. By now the rest of the hanger had been alerted to the SPARTANS presence. Jackals carrying beam rifles raised their weapons and fired. The soldiers ducked and Luke switch to his brute shot. He fired one round and obliterated the group of Jackals.

"Move!" Kimberly ordered and strafed the cluster of Grunts on the floor bellow.

Luke moved to the side as plasma bolts scorched the area he had stood a split second earlier. He fired the brute shot again and blew a hole in the chest of a Brute Captain. The other Brutes snarled and fired their rifles angrily. The SPARTAN ducked out of the way and flashed his status light to Kimberly. She flashed hers back and Luke hurled a fragmentation grenade down onto the floor. The Brutes scattered as the grenade went off. A second later another grenade went off under three of the Brutes and tore them to pieces.

The remaining Brutes howled furiously and dropped their weapons. The aliens barreled through Jackals and trampled over Grunts that got in their way. They rushed straight up the ramp and right for Kimberly who had tossed another grenade at them in an attempt to bring them down. Luke fired two more rounds of the brute shot and downed the two Brutes charging behind the leader. Kimberly fired into the first as it lunged for her. She dove to the side as the hulking beast hurled its full body weight at her to try and crush her against the hard wall. The impact left a dent in the metal and the beast turned its glaring eyes on the SPARTAN.

"Get back!" Luke shouted. It was more to Kimberly than to the alien. Kimberly was on her feet in a flash and had backed up a few yards as the plasma grenade detonated from behind the Brute. The force sent the massive body soaring and Kimberly had to duck out of the way.

"Thanks for the help." She nodded and turned her BR55 back to the scrambling troops on the flight deck bellow. "Let's finish them off and get out of here."

The soldiers charged down the stairs, Kimberly giving quick controlled bursts of her battle rifle and Luke using his brute shot to cause massive explosions throughout the hanger. Kimberly ran up to the nearest phantom dropship and opened the troop bay. Inside, a squad of Grunts barked in surprise.

"Ack! Demons!"

Kimberly drew her side arm and fired. At the end of her clip the Grunts lay dead on the floor of the dropship. "Go on!" She ordered Luke. "You get this thing in the air and I'll keep the Covenant off your back." She barely spotted Luke bob his head as he leaped into the dropship. Kimberly turned and jammed another clip into her gun. She downed several more Jackals and two more Brutes before Luke's status light winked. Kimberly tossed away another plasma grenade and jumped into the dropship. "Hit it!" She shouted.

The phantom jolted backwards as Luke backed it out of the docking bay. Kimberly checked the team's stats. The others were fine. But Jesse's pulse was spiking to abnormal levels. Kimberly moved to the front of the dropship beside Luke. He had killed the Brute piloting it beforehand and had shoved it's body to the side.

Down on the ground at the base of the gravity lift, was total chaos and destruction. The Hunter pair that had nearly found Kimberly and Luke were moving to surround Gold Leader as he did his best to evade a berserker Brute. The gorilla-like alien lunged and the SPARTAN dodged. He fired the Brute shot he carried at one of the Hunters and made contact with its chest before it ducked behind its massive shield. Jesse stuck a plasma grenade to its shield as it poked its head out to charge its fuel rod gun. The blast stunned the beast and Jesse fired another grenade into its exposed stomach. The worms that resided within the armor were blown apart and the creature lay dead before its partner.

The remaining Hunter howled in anguish and prepared to charge. Before it could take its first step a shower of plasma spikes pelted it and melted it into the ground.

Jesse didn't have time to formally thank his teammates. He ducked to the side and drew his SMG's as the Brute tried to tackle him again. He didn't wait for the alien to turn. He fired his guns into its back only to see the Brute turn with even more insanity in its eyes. In a flash Jesse had dropped his empty clips and had a fresh magazine in each gun.

The Brute barreled towards the Spartan. Kimberly watched as Jesse fired into the Brute's face only to have the creature continue its rampage.

"Jesse." Kimberly whispered subconsciously. Her team leader dropped his SMG's and fired his assault rifle. The Brute bellowed again and flung its full body weight into the SPARTAN. Jesse felt the wind rush out of his lungs. It felt like getting hit with a wrecking ball. Despite being encased in half a ton of armor his body flew back and through the wall of a building. There was a loud crack and a crash as concrete crumbled down on top of him. "No!" Kimberly shouted in her mind. "Gold Leader! Come in Gold Leader! This is Gold Three! Do you read me? Gold leader!" No answer.

"Kimberly! What's going on?" Dan called over the Team-COM.

"Gold Leader is down and in need of assistance. What's your status?"

"It looks like there were a lot more Covenant inside that scarab than once believed. We're falling back for now."

"Red Team. What's your status?"

"We are currently positioned by the bridge's toll plaza. Covenant re-enforcements have been sighted crossing in our direction."

"Then blow the bridge. We have enough to deal with over here."

"Understood." Marshal acknowledged. A split second later there was a thunderous crack as the bridge supports were blown apart and the structure plunged into the bay along with all the Covenant onboard.

"We have more Covenant coming down the lift!" Luke shouted.

"I'm going down!" Kimberly said and grabbed her rifles, one in each hand.

"Fine." Luke knew better than to argue with her. "I'm going keep them off of you for as long as I can."

"Please do." Kimberly stepped into the gravity lift and disappeared from Luke's view. Once on the ground she raised her guns and fired at the approaching aliens as they dropped down the lift. Luke continued to strafe the phantom and fire plasma spikes into the hoards of aliens.

While the aliens were busy scrambling to get away from the captured phantom, Kimberly made her way to the fallen Brute and crumbling wall. She set her rifles down and began tossing concrete stones aside. It wasn't long before she found her team leader. She shoved the stones away from Jesse's dusty red armor.

"Jesse, can you hear me?" She called urgently. Jesse groaned slightly and began to sit up. He shook his head and took Kimberly's hand to get to his feet.

"Thanks Kimsey."

"You're welcome sir." Kimberly nodded and handed him her battle rifle. "Now let's get out of here."

"Agreed." Jesse bobbed his head back and shouldered the weapon as they charged back into the open.

"Gold Four. This is Gold Leader. Gold Three and I need immediate extraction. Do you copy."

"Roger that sir." Luke's light winked and the phantom hovered over the two SPARTAN'S. The phantom's gravity lift activated and pulled them aboard. "Good to have you back sir." Luke said from the cockpit.

Jesse didn't have time to acknowledge. "Red Team. Gold Two. Rendezvous at these coordinates! Over."

"Yes sir!" Dan and Marshal acknowledged.

Jesse moved up to the cockpit. "Gold Four. Make sure the other's are going to be able to get aboard in a matter of seconds. We're going to be cutting this one close."

"Yes sir." Luke nodded.

"Sir." Kimberly called. She had opened the phantom's troop bays on the side and had the plasma turret aimed back at the Covenant ship. "We have banshees and dropships inbound. And the cruiser is starting to move."

Jesse looked out to see a mass of banshee fliers and phantoms coming after them. The banshees were faster and gaining speed. Jesse placed a hand on Kimberly's shoulder. "Do what you can from here." Her status light winked once. "Gold Two, Red Team. Be prepared for some enemy fire. We're going to be coming in for you hot."

"Understood." Dan replied.

"Sir!" Marshal reported. "Spartan lasers are standing by."

"Do what you can." Jesse bobbed his head to himself. He moved to the opposite troop bay and armed he turret. "Gold Three. Open fire!" Two lines of plasma bolts spit back at the banshees closing in on the phantom. The lead banshees took the brunt of the damage. Several spun to evade the plasma fire. Others burned and crashed.

The banshees returned fire. Jesse ducked inside the dropship as a spray of plasma bolts peppered his turret. With the turret gone Jesse grabbed his BR55 and began picking off the banshees engines. More of the fliers fell and smashed into one another.

"ETA ten seconds!" Luke called over the Team-COM.

Behind them, a banshee armed its fuel rod cannon and fired. The blazing bolt of energy struck the back of the phantom, sending Jesse and Kimberly off balance. Kimberly got to her feet but was thrown again as another fuel rod blast hit the back of the phantom. She rolled and grabbed onto the side of the phantom before she could fall from the open troop bays. Bracing himself, Jesse reached out and grabbed her hand before pulling her back inside.

It was then that three lasers cut through the squad of banshees, lighting up the sky with fire and plasma.

"Friendlies coming aboard!" Luke called as he brought the phantom down to street level. Brizzolara ducked into the lift as Dan, Leslie and Red Team clambered aboard through the troop bays.

"Everyone set?" Jesse looked around the now crowded cabin. Every status light winked green. "Gold Four, get us out of here!"

Luke flashed his status light once and the phantom lurched forward. Behind them the covenant ship was coming to life as it turned its lateral lines in the Spartans' direction.

"Covenant ship is targeting our position!" Roy shouted. He charged another beam from the spartan laser and shot down two of the remaining banshees before ducking back inside the dropship.

"Gold Four!" Jesse called to the front.

"Any second now sir! Hold on!"

Jesse glanced out the troop bay and watched as the covenant ship's pin-point lasers armed. A moment later a brilliant flash erupted from the belly of the ship and Jesse's visor polarized. Plasma, metal and fire blanketed what was left of New San Francisco. Chunks of burning metal plunged through buildings and into the streets, brining several of the towering skyscrapers to the ground.

"Be glad that doesn't come out of your paycheck." Sophitia commented as Luke piloted the phantom up over the buildings.

"We get paid for this?" Dan remarked. Leslie gave him a playful shove.

"Sir, down there!" Marshal pointed to the bay bridge. Red team had destroyed the end section of the bridge but Covenant forces were gathering on the island in the middle of the bay. There were numerous armored units including two scarab walkers.

"What's your plan sir?" Dan asked as he watched the covenant forces down below.

Jesse paused to think as the phantom circled the island. The Bay Bridge made a stop at the largest island in the middle of the bay before extending towards the city. If they destroyed the other half of the bridge, the Covenant would be easy pickings while being stranded on the island.

"Sophitia. Can you get me a topographic map of that island?"

"Can I get you a topographic map? Of course I can!" The A.I. replied almost insulted. She grumbled to herself as she brought up a map of the island. "Treasure Island here is remembered for its former use as a twentieth century military base until the end of the second world war." Sophitia explained. "After the war it was mainly used for shipping supplies and construction grounds for local bridge maintenance."

"Too bad it wasn't kept that way." Jesse muttered.

"As you can see it's slopes are steep and there is only one way on or off of it. But as far as a strategic location it's only strength lies in the fact that there are hundreds of underground tunnels."

"Any leading off the island?"

"No sir. From what I understand, there was a time when the city attempted to build an underground rail system to and from the island but due to the need of a navy base in the area the project was abandoned. "

"That makes it easier for us. Luke."

"Yes sir?"

"Drop Red Team off behind the mountain. They will set up position with lasers and take out any armored units they see."

"Yes sir!" Red Team bobbed their heads slightly and readied their heavy weapons.

"Luke, you're going to drop me and Dan off on top of the scarabs. One Spartan for each scarab."

"Understood," both Spartans flashed their status lights.

"Kim and Leslie. You two are going to provide support for Red Team." Both girls winked their status light and Jesse turned to Brizzolara. "Marine, you're on turret." Jesse rested a hand on the remaining turret on the troop bay door. "Keep those aliens panicked. All the better for us to pick 'em off."

"My pleasure." Brizzolara smirked and took hold of the turret, swiveling it around on its base to get a feel for it.

Jesse nodded to his team. "Spartans, let's get to work."

"Yes sir!"

The phantom circled the island once before it began its descent. Kim and Leslie dropped out first before scouting ahead of Red Team who followed ten seconds after.

"What have we got?" Marshal asked as his team caught up to the two girls.

"Looks like the Covenant are preparing to move out." Kimberly reported. "They seem to be preparing for a retreat now that their access to the city has been cut off."

"We've got jackal snipers standing guard around the perimeter." Leslie whispered, her sniper rifle aimed directly at the head of one of the vulture-like aliens. "The nearest is about three hundred yards down hill."

"Wait until Jesse and Dan have boarded the scarabs. When the snipers are distracted then they're all yours."

Meanwhile, Luke piloted the phantom around the side of the mountain. Down below, the Covenant forces looked up curiously. They had watched it fly away from the city, curious as to why it had not joined up with their ranks on the island yet. The two scarab walkers were parked motionless on the beach while a line of wraiths and ghosts remained behind them. Luke brought the phantom in low skimming just over the backs of the scarabs. Dan jumped first and Jesse dropped towards the second scarab. Dan hit the scarab's back and rolled right into a brute. The stocky alien growled ad turned, expecting to see a grunt had bumped into him. Dan pointed his shot gun up and pulled the trigger. The brute's brains went flying through the top of its head.

"It's a demon!" A spec ops grunt cried, pointing a frightened claw at the spartan. Before the other covenant could move to do away with Dan, the sounds of two SMG's caught the aliens attention. Across from them, Spartan-029 sprayed down the grunts and jackals with his two SMG's.

Dan rolled to his feet and fired into the back of the closest brute. The next brute turned and opened its jaws wide to roar but found the Spartan's M90 shoved down its throat. Dan pulled the trigger before ducking out of the way of the spec ops grunt's needler fire. The grunt turned his head as Dan charged in and drove his knee into its face, shattering its skull.

Down on the ground, the covenant forces heard the commotion. A jackal with a beam rifle spotted Dan atop of the scarab and fired a shot. The spartan ducked out of the way as the particle beam just missed him by inches. A split second later Leslie put a round through the jackals head. The grunts standing close by barked in alarm. Up on the hill, Kim set her rifle to semiautomatic and squeezed the trigger three times. More grunts and jackals raised the alarm as the girls proceeded to pick them off from high up on the hillside.

Dan and Jesse ducked inside the scarabs began gunning down the covenant forces inside. "Red Team, you have permission to open fire!" Jesse called over the team COM. A moment later, three lasers cut down the hillside and burned through any covenant standing close to their targets. Brutes and grunts fell dead around the wraiths and ghosts as plasma and shrapnel filled the air. The remaining ghosts and wraiths hummed to life. The mortar tanks turned their cannons towards the hillside.

"Scatter!" Kimberly shouted causing all five spartans to bolt from their hiding spots. The wraiths fired a volley of plasma bombs which burned away the hillside leaving the surface littered with white-hot rock.

Just then a shower of plasma spikes came showering down on the covenant forces from overhead. Brizzolara held the turret's trigger tight, blanketing the alien troops wherever one happened to move.

"Not so fun now is it!" He hollered over the roar of the explosions below.

The ghosts were the first to get hammered by the marine's plasma fire. The grunts fell out of their seats in heaps of burning flesh while the brutes tried to maneuver around each other and out of the line of fire. The commotion only caused more chaos amongst the covenant as Red Team picked their next targets. Two wraiths and a ghost that was trying to get away were brought down in another blast of crimson energy. Leslie and Kim continued to squeeze their triggers, catching any grunts or jackals trying to escape the mayhem.

"Concentrate all fire on the hillside!" A brute captain roared. Much to his relief the nearby wraiths turned inland and raised their cannons. Before the captain could give the order to fire, his wraith was destroyed. The first scarab was beginning to move with Dan at the controls and had crushed the tank beneath its insect-like foot. The other scarab began to turn as well as the ghosts began to gather into a rough formation and flee towards the bridge onramp.

Inside his scarab, Jesse inserted Sophitia's AI crystal into the scarab's control system. "Let's see how the Covenant like it when their own machines are turned against them." She said with a chuckle. The scarab's main gun opened up and plasma billowed from its barrel. Sophitia fired a stream of bright green plasma instantly turning the road into a river of liquid rock. The ghosts had all been wiped out in that single shot. Spartan-029 felt a feeling of indifference sweep over him. He had seen scarabs before wipe out entire platoons of soldiers and vehicles in a single blast. He could not begin to fathom what the Covenant thought about slaughtering so many soldiers so easily.

Jesse was so deep into his thoughts he didn't notice the wounded brute getting to its feet behind him. The hulking alien's arms and legs were riddled with bullet holes and it wheezed heavily against it's punctured lungs. Jesse's motion tracker blipped and the spartan ducked. The brute's massive fist rushed by over his head causing the alien to stagger forward. Spartan-029 shot straight up catching the alien in the jaw with the top of his helmet. The brute's head rocked snapped backwards as it fell onto it's back. The spartan drew his assault rifle and pumped a round into the beast's chest.

"Are you alright?" Sophitia asked from her AI port.

"Yeah." Jesse muttered. He left Sophitia to drive the scarab while he went back up top. Down on the ground, Leslie and Kimberly were mopping up the last of the Covenant forces. Dan had left two long, white-hot scars across the base of the mountain where many of the Covenant had tried to flee into the island's network of tunnels.

"Team, status report." Jesse ordered over his team's COM. All status lights wink green. "Luke, we're ready for extraction. Bring the phantom around and pick Dan and the other's up."

"Roger that."

Jesse walked back inside and reached for Sophitia.

"One moment Gold Leader," the AI stopped him as if sensing he was about to pull her out.

"What is it?" Jesse asked skeptically. It wasn't like Sophitia to stay behind unless there was something important going on.

"I'm picking up on a lot of chatter on the Covenant Battle Net." The AI sounded troubled and confused.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I don't know." Sophitia murmured. "The Covenant forces are broadcasting around the planet. Something about a changing of the guard."

"Changing of the guard? Is that some sort of Covenant relic?"

"I don't know." Sophitia answered sharply. "It's a relayed transmission."

"Can you find out where it's from?"

"Somewhere deep in space. On the outreach of human space from what I can tell."

"What does the message say exactly?"

"It says: Due to the failure of the Elites to protect our now late Prophet of Regret, the Prophet of Truth has made a declaration that all Elite commanders are to relinquish their titles to the brutes. Failure to comply will be seen as heresy and will be punishable by death without trial before the high council."

Jesse pressed his lips together tightly. "Something feels off about this."

"Why do you say that?"

"The elites are the the highest echelons amongst the Covenant military. They aren't going to take this whole changing of the guard lightly."

"What are you thinking exactly?"

"We may have a civil war on our hands."

The AI paused for a second. "And if that's the case, the Covenant may have their hands full with each other. Thus buying us some time to kick them off the planet."

"Better yet, eradicate them entirely." Jesse muttered with an almost inaudible growl. "Sophitia, grab whatever data you can. We need to get this information to ONI high command."

"On it." The control panels within the scarab flickered then died. The hulking machine's legs buckled and crashed to the ground.

"Gold Leader!" Kimberly's voice called over the COM.

Jesse got to his feet and shook his head as he yanked Sophitia out of the scarab and inserted her into his helmet. The feeling of ice coursed through his body for a split second. "Next time you do that, warn me." He muttered.

"Gotta keep you on your toes somehow spartan." Sophitia chuckled in amusement as Jesse climbed out of the scarab. Luke brought the phantom to hover overhead and sucked his team leader into the cabin from the gravlift.

"You okay sir?" Kimberly asked worriedly.

Jesse bobbed his head. "Luke, we need to find a radio tower that can link up with the MAC platforms in orbit. Sophitia's just discovered some information that may be able to turn the tide of this war in our favor."

"Sir!" Brizzolara turned his eyes away from his turret to look at the towering spartan. "There's an underground radio station hidden beneath the Golden Gate bridge on the opposite side of the bay just north west of our position. I believe it's strong enough to patch you through."

"Luke, you heard the marine."

"On it sir." Brizzolara relinquished his position at the turret and moved up to the cockpit and nearly jumped when he saw the dead brute slumped to the side. The marine proceeded to guide the spartan over the towering red suspension bridge and down towards what looked like a construction yard along the edges of the docks beneath the bridge itself. Luke landed the phantom just over the water letting his teammates hopped out onto the docks.

"Keep her warm." Jesse bobbed his head as he helped Brizzolara climb out. Luke nodded and watched as his teammates followed the marine across the construction yard and up the hill. The climb was pretty steep but the soldiers made it to their destination without any sightings of covenant forces.

Brizzolara walked across the bridge road and up a dirt path. The trail led to an and old UNSC outpost. The base had once been used as an anti-aircraft battery in the mid twentieth century but had been converted to a small reserves outpost in 2540.

"This place should have an emergency munitions depot just below us." Sophitia said as they walked up the gravel-covered path.

"Good to know." Jesse bobbed his head slightly as he continued to look around the small outpost. The building structures were small; too small for a pack of brutes to hide behind but small enough if even one wanted to stay in hiding. Jesse motioned for Dan and Roy to to sweep the perimeter of the compound. Leslie and Kimberly were stationed on lookout down the hill from them, sweeping the area with their rifles at the ready. Brizzolara led Jesse, Marshal and Judy towards the control room. When they found the door to be locked, Jesse inserted Sophitia's AI crystal in the access panel enabling her to unlock the door from the inside.

With a loud hiss the door slid open letting a muggy odor out of the chamber.

"Oh wow!" Brizzolara coughed, waving his hand to clear the air away from his face. "I guess it's been a while since anyone's been here."

The spartans ducked inside and found the control room to be an entire operations expanse. Computers lined the isles with several command stations scattered about. All the computer screens were either dark or dimmed with the UNSC logo flashing on and off.

Jesse put Sophitia's AI crystal into the main command console. Almost instantly the room lit up and the computers powered back on.

"Sophitia," Jesse started but the AI cut him off.

"Already on it Gold Leader." Several minutes passed by in silence before she spoke again. "Bad news, I can't reach the gyp-synch platforms in orbit. There's too much interference. "

"Are the Covenant blocking our signal?"

Another pause from the AI. "I don't think so. They seem more interested in what ever it is they're doing on the other side of the planet."

"Mombassa?"

"Yes. It's where ninety percent of all the Covenant have gathered their forces. Every hour, more and more Covenant ships are arriving from slipspace."

"Our boys upstairs are probably losing then." Brizzolara muttered darkly.

"But they're not out of the fight yet." Sophitia reported. "There are ships still fighting up there and there's only a small number of MAC stations that have been lost. In terms of what fire power we have we're holding them off better than expected."

"So how are the ships getting through our defenses?" Marshal spoke up.

"The Covenant have been using the hole created by the Athens, Malta and Kario station to slip past our orbital defense grid."

"Covey bastards!" Brizzolara growled, clenching his fist tight.

"There is a way we can relay the message." Sophitia continued. "But considering the circumstances it may take time."

"Do what you have to." Jesse said standing upright. "Our job is to turn the tide of this war in our favor."

"Understood." Sophitia acknowledged. Jesse turned to the other spartans and Brizzolara.

"Take shifts on perimeter watch. I don't know how long this will take but we stay until the message gets through."

Brizzolara saluted and the spartans nodded. They turned and left the room leaving Jesse the stand alone with his thoughts.

"I really hope we get this through in time Sophitia." He muttered.

"Me too, spartan. Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Carrier Righteous Regard, Covenant Controlled Space (One week after destruction of Installation-04)**

Ship Master Costinus sat in his chair drumming his long fingers against his lower jaws. The elite commander had been feeling rather uneasy as of late. His crew could see it in his bright orange eyes and hear in the way his lower mandibles clicked together. The news of the discovery of a 'sacred ring' had spread like wild fire throughout the Covenant ranks. All the Covenant forces had massed to the location of the holy relic, but by the time they got there they had found it destroyed; by the humans no less. The news and sight of Halo's destruction had shocked the entire Covenant itself, bringing everyone to just short of anarchy. The most righteous believers in the promise of the sacred rings found themselves distraught and lost without any direction. Others began to lag on their duties and even to dangerous points where several crew members had to be suspended and isolated.

Costinus growled to himself, clicking his mandibles together loudly. The bridge crew paused what they were doing to glance over at him curiously. When the gold-armored Elite remained silent, they returned to their duties. A few minutes passed before the doors to the bridge slid open and a red-armored zealot, Riotous, walked onto the bridge. The young lieutenant noticed his mentor's troubled expression.

"Ship Master, permission to speak?"

"As you wish." Costinus waved a dismissive hand as he focused on the main holographic screen.

"Something seems to be on your mind. Would you care to share with your crew? There have been whispers that you are deeply troubled." Costinus gave a half snort, half chuckle at the zealot's words but continued to remain silent. Riotous paused to find the proper words to speak before doing so. "Sir, are you worried about your brother because of the destruction of the sacred ring?"

This caught the ship master's attention, causing him to turn his head slightly in the direction of the young squad leader. "What would make one so young come to that conclusion?"

"Sir, we know the fleet master that was in charge of annihilating that human military planet, is your brother. We fear you may be worrying about him too much and may defect from your duties."

Costinus would have spat if he could. "I will not defect from my duties as a ship master, fleet master or as an Elite commander!" He slammed his fist into the armrest of his chair causing the bridge crew to jump in surprise. "All followers of the Covenant must be able to perform their duty to its fullest or suffer the consequences!" The ship master settled back into his chair and continued to drum his fingers anxiously. "My brother is no exception. The loss of the sacred ring is his failure and he must be willing to accept whatever punishment the Hierarchs have deemed suitable for him; as I would if it had been me."

"That is very respectful and noble of you ship master." Riotous bobbed his long head slightly. "But the rumor was that it was one of the human's demons who destroyed the ring."

Costinus's eye zipped back to his young pupil. "Excuses will also not be tolerated from leaders within the Covenant. My brother should have focused his attention on the demon entirely rather than half-heartedly."

Riotous fell silent, understanding that his mentor wished to end the discussion. After a long moment of silence one of the crew members spoke up.

"Ship Master, my scanners indicate a piece of debris floating about."

Costinus glanced at the crew member. "And of what interest could this possibly be to me?"

"Sir, it is only one piece of debris. But, it's emitting power."

"Power?" Costinus sat up in his chair and leaned forward curiously. "B1ring the object on display?"

"Yes sir," the elite nodded as his fingers glided across the holographic control panel. A split second later the image enlarged. Sure enough, it was only a single metallic object; a polygonal capsule of some sort, according the the elite's analysis.

"What is that thing?" Riotous squinted at the object as it drifted about silently.

Costinus thought for a long hard moment before speaking. "Bring it aboard. Something tells me we should investigate it."

"You heard the Ship Master!" Riotous growled loudly for the bridge to hear. "Bring it aboard!" As the bridge crew went about following their orders, Costinus rose from his seat and left the bridge with Riotous following close behind. By the time the two elites got to the belly of the ship just above the gravity lift, the capsule was already being looked over curiously by a small group of engineers. "Get them away from there!" Riotous barked to a group of grunts down on the deck. The stocky little aliens barked and tipped, before shoving the gas-filled engineers out of the way so the elites could inspect the treasure.

At first glance, Costinus looked rather disinterested in the capsule; but upon further inspection found himself deeply filled with awe and wonder.

"What is it?" Riotous asked curiously inspecting the surface of the capsule. It resembled dense stone but also had a metallic quality to its shine. "Is it human?"

"No," Costinus shook his head. "Human technology does not possess such traits as this relic here."

"But they do look rather similar." Riotous pointed out, causing his mentor to glare at him for his loquaciousness.

"Take a closer look." Costinus ordered. "Just because they are similar does not mean they are the same." The ship master pointed a long finger at the markings and runes covering the object's surface. "Look at these. Do you not notice what they resemble?"

Riotous looked closer; after a long silent moment his eyes widened and his jaws dropped. "By the gods! It's an artifact!"

"Not only that," Costinus continued. "But rather than being aged and weathered like the relics we have been helping the Prophets to study, this one is completely intact without so much as a scratch on it."

Riotous placed a hand on the capsule's surface and felt the chill from space run up his arm. "What do you think this artifact is? Most of what we have discovered have been dead technological sights that none of us have been able to unlock." No sooner had Riotous spoken than the capsule began to hum. Both elites looked down as a magnetic pulse coursed through Riotous's body. The elite snarled and quickly jerked his hand away.

"By the gods! It's still active!" He shouted in defense like a training recruit. The humming grew louder and both elites stepped back, drawing their plasma rifles. The runes began to glow, bright blue before fading away. A loud hiss replaced the hum and suddenly cold, white steam burst from an invisible seam along the sides of the capsule. The elites covered their eyes until the mist died away. When it was clear enough to see, both elites stepped closer to the capsule. Riotous reached out and gripped the seams with is long fingers only to get a cold burn on them. The young lieutenant cursed in his native dialect and and ordered a group of drones to handle removing the casing to the capsule. The insect-like aliens were immune to the frost bite and had removed the seal with relative ease. When the elites looked inside, their jaws dropped.

"By the gods! How can that be?" Costinus gasped, his shark-like eyes, wide with disbelief. "How is this even possible?"

Inside the capsule was an elite; a female at that. Riotous found himself in shock as well as he eyed her long, slender, muscular body. She lay curled in a fetal position inside the capsule that seemed too small to fit her body in the first place. She was completely without any armor or garment of any sort; only donning a small arm band, which Riotous seemed to recognize as what resembled a Jackal shield.

"Get her out of there this instant." Costinus ordered his pupil. "I'm going to report this to the Hierarchs. Perhaps they can make more sense of this."

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Holy City, High Charity, Ruins of Installation-04 (25 days after destruction of Installation-04)**

Luna felt a chill run through her body. She groaned and curled up tighter, hoping to keep herself warm but the chilly air clung to her bare skin. After trying for several minutes to fall back asleep she gave up and opened her eyes. An eerie purple glow was cast about the chamber she was in. All around were strange holographic alien markings that looked slightly familiar to her.

"What happened?" She groaned, pushing herself up off the floor. Luna looked around to see she was in some sort of holding cell with a large forcefield preventing her from escape. "Where am I?"

"Ah you're awake," a deep growl caught her attention, causing her to jump. From around the corner walked an alien as tall as she was, if not a little larger. It walked on two legs which bent backwards at the knee and ended in two thick, hoofed feet. The creature's arms were long and lean ending in a four-fingered hand which Luna guessed must have not been very good for gripping anything. The alien's head was at the end of a long, muscular neck with fierce eyes and a mouth whose lower jaw split into a gaping set of four toothy mandibles. The alien was covered from head to hoof in luminous blue armor that looked as if it had been polished to a perfect shine.

"Wh-who are you?" Luna stammered, scuffling backwards on the cold floor away from the barrier. "Where am I? What am I doing here?"

"You're at the Covenant Holy City, High Charity." The alien replied. "We have brought you here to be interrogated before the prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret."

Luna raised a brow; or at least tried to. "What do you mean interrogated? What have I done? I just woke up! What is going on around here?"

"Enough talking breeder." The guard, another alien in red armor this time, stepped from around the corner. "The Prophets are ready to hear what you have to report."

"Report? On what?" The elite didn't answer. He pulled the blue-armored elite with him back around the corner. "Hey! Come back here! I'm not done with you!" Luna shouted, getting to her feet only to collapse onto her face. She picked herself up after a moment and looked down; the sight before her nearly took her breath away. "Oh my gods! What! What happened to me?" She sat on her bottom and felt herself up. Her skin was thick and almost clammy like the alien's she had just been talking to. She looked just like one of them. She looked at her forearm where she remembered her personal device was to find it gone. "Oh no!" She exclaimed. "What's going on? Where is it?"

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Another voice caught her attention from across the room. Luna looked over to see another elite, stripped of armor and as bare as she was sitting against the far wall of his cell, staring at her. This elite looked much older than the two guards, with his body covered in cuts, scars and some rather fresh-looking injuries.

"You don't understand!" Luna protested. "My device! I have to find it!"

"You mean that Kig-Yar gauntlet you had? They removed it from you when you arrived."

"What?" Luna gasped.

The elite nodded. "That's right. The guards stripped you of it, considering that was the only item you had on. No doubt the Prophets themselves have been toying with it to dissect it for its secrets."

"What secrets?" Luna shook her head frantically. "Tell me what's going on!"

The elite looked at her curiously. "You don't remember?"

"What do you think!" Luna snapped, her mandibles clicking furiously.

"I do not know the entire story," the elite shook his head in shame. "But from what I understand, you were discovered floating about through space inside a so-called holy relic."

"A holy relic?" Luna repeated and looked at the floor to try and recall what had happened. Her memory was still very fuzzy and it was giving her a headache. "My gods, what is going on around here?" The two prisoner's conversation was interrupted by the sound of doors hissing open. Luna crawled towards the barrier of her cell to get a better view of what was going on. The two elites that stood on guard attention a small control panel looked up as a pair of larger aliens lumbered into the room. These ones resembled that of a malformed ape with the skin of a pachyderm. They carried with them the body of another elite. The limp alien was stripped bare and his body was charred and still smoking. The two aliens threw him into a vacant cell beside the other imprisoned elite before stalking off again.

"What were those things?" Luna asked, a tone of fright in her voice.

The elite across from Luna growled. "Brutes. Filthy, vile creatures."

"Sounds like you two have a personal grudge." Luna pointed out.

The elite stared at her once again, more intrigued by her response than anything else. "Any elite within the Covenant should know of the past we share with the Prophets and the Brutes. I find it rather... fascinating yet also troublesome that you seem to show no sign of remembering such things."

"Hold on," Luna raised a hand to silence him. "What do you mean I should know? I can't remember anything before I woke up."

"You obviously recollect something." The elite pointed a long finger at her. "You remembered your device. If your memory had truly been purged then you would have completely forgotten that it was even on you."

"So am I supposed to wait for my memory to come back?" Luna growled. "I don't have that kind of time!"

"I would be inclined to agree." The elite bobbed his head slightly. "But that all depends on what the Hierarchs decide on what to do with you."

"Close your jaws!" The guard in blue armor ordered as he stomped towards Luna's cell. "The Prophets are waiting for you. You will be judged before the council and then your punishment will be sentenced."

"Punishment?" Luna felt a chill run down her spine. "What have I done to deserve any sort of punishment?"

The guard raised his plasma rifle at her. "Move along now!" Luna felt the blood inside her boil as she stared at the weapon in front of her. If she were able to move properly she would have been able wrench the weapon from the elite's hand, and dispose of him in less than five seconds flat. Instead she would have to play it smart rather than relying on brutish force like she had in the past. As she staggered to her feet she began to recall what had happened before she had woken up. The elite ushered her towards the door where a new pair of elites stood with a spear in each hand. These guards had on far more elaborate armor and their faces seemed to be covered completely by the massive helmets. The Honor guards escorted Luna down the glowing halls towards the council sanctum. All the while, memories of her past flashed back in Luna's mind. The shouts and screams as her crew were attacked, the flashing warning lights, the countdown timer bleeping and one of the crew members, whose face she could not recognize, shoving her into a slipspace stasis pod.

"What's going on?" Luna thought to herself. "What's happened to my people?"

**1400 Hours, October 26, 2552 (military calendar)/ New San Francisco , Planet Earth**

Red Team and Brizzolara loaded the back of their transport warthog. The team had been given the task of loading whatever supplies they could into the phantom which remained parked at the docks below the Golden Gate Bridge.

Gold Team and Red Team had managed to get Sophitia's message through to the orbital MAC gun over the city about a day later than expected. All the debris from the UNSC fleet was causing more interference than expected, causing almost all radio transmissions to bounce back or miss their intended targets entirely.

Two days ago, Spartan Blue Team had been ordered by Lord Hood to hijack a Covenant cruiser that had been hanging around one of the Alaskan MAC platforms in low orbit. Info on the operation had not been disclosed to Gold Team but from what they heard, the Spartans had been able to capture the ship and jump into slipspace, before the rest of the arriving Covenant fleet could realize what was going on. Many of the Covenant ships had been destroyed, but the ones that were lost were quickly replaced as the aliens proceeded to push against the UNSC's defenses.

The reports were coming through that Brutes were planet side and hunting down any UNSC command bases near the orbital defense grid power stations. Gold Team had received orders from the San Francisco MAC station that a platoon of Marines would be joining them from the northern Eureka base and would rendezvous with them in 36 hours with fresh troops and supplies. San Francisco was one of the few untouched MAC platforms left; the others sustaining moderate to significant damage.

"It shouldn't be much longer." Brizzolara sighed as he loaded a crate of grenades into the transport hog. "We should be seeing them any minute now." Marshal walked out of the munitions depot and looked down the hill to the north. The underground munitions depot was over two miles long, extending from the bridge to just beyond the small inland harbor.

"It's a good thing the Covenant didn't hit this place," Brizzolara continued. "This whole part of the map would have blown sky high." The spartan turned his head slightly and thrust his head towards the warthog. Brizzolara took the hint and climbed aboard. As the vehicle started up, Judy walked up beside her team leader.

"Everything okay?"

Marshal remained silent. He squinted from behind his visor and looked out at the road that led into the hills beyond their position. Judy recognized the stare and cycled the bolt in her BR55.

"Marine, head back to the bridge," Judy ordered. "We're going to meet up with the platoon before they get here."

"Yes sir!" Brizzolara saluted and then nearly choked. "I mean Ma'am!" He hit the gas and drove off.

No sooner had he done so than a crackling came over the airwaves.

"Spartan team! This is UNSC marine platoon Eureka! We are under attack by Covenant forces! Send immediate assistance!" There was a loud scream and the sound of twisting metal.

Marshal whirled around and jumped into the remaining gauss hog that was parked just outside the loading garage to the munitions depot. Judy climbed into the gunner seat as Roy came dashing out of the garage.

"No!" Marshal barked stopping his teammate in his tracks. "Stay here and seal off the depot! Fall back to Gold Team's position! We'll be right back!" Roy stood dumbstruck for a second but flashed his status light once as Marshal sped off towards the hills. "Marines, what is your position?"

"We're less than a mile from the rendezvous point!" A new voice shouted into the radio. "The Brutes! They have new...!" A loud roar cut the marine off and another loud scream, followed by a crunch. Marshal hit the gas, nearly breaking the pedal.

"Gold Leader, this is Spartan-027. The marines that were supposed to meet up with us have encountered hostile forces. Spartan-018 and I are en route to provide assistance."

"Roger that," Jesse confirmed after a moment. "Be careful out there."

"Yes sir," Marshal nodded as the warthog rose over the first hill. Down below the valley was a mess with fire and smoke. Warthogs that weren't destroyed tried desperately to get around the wreckage that had once been their teammates. Gunners fired wildly at the ghosts and wraiths that were closing in on their position.

"Opening up!" Judy called as the gauss hog sped down the hill. She fired a single round which punctured straight through the first wraith. The mortar tank erupted in a shower of plasma and fire as the other tanks turned their guns towards the approaching hog. Seven globs of plasma belted from the turrets before two more wraiths were put down. Marshal pulled the e-brake and sped off the road into the grassy fields lining the hillsides. Behind them the plasma bombs melted the asphalt into puddles of liquid rock.

By now the ghosts were turning their attention to the gauss hog and began firing along the vehicle's path. The remaining gunners of the platoon turned their turrets to the ghosts, putting down several of the drivers. Judy swiveled the gauss turret around and hit another wraith. The remaining two fired into the line of marines, scrambling to regain formation of their platoon. Screams filled the Spartan's speakers as the plasma bombs burned the soldiers alive. Judy turned the turret and fired, eliminating the first wraith in a single shot.

"Ghosts!" Marshal shouted as he swerved around the last wraith, trying to keep out of its firing range. Judy winked her status light and fired, killing ghost two pilots in one shot. The brutes snarled furiously and peppered the warthog with plasma spikes. Judy fired another round as a plasma bolt struck the side of the warthog, burning the tire away. Marshal cursed as he struggled to get a hold of the vehicle. The warthog hit a ditch and rolled. Judy was thrown from the gunner seat and hit the ground hard. Marshal remained trapped in the driver's seat, the metal frame caging him inside.

Judy got to her feet and looked for her battle rifle. It lay on the ground shattered in half from her landing on it. The hum of the ghosts and bellowing of the brutes brought her back to reality as she drew her side arm. The first ghost sped towards her. Judy stepped out of the way to avoid being hit and struck the wing of the ghost with her fist. The covenant vehicle spun in the air, tossing the brute driver out of the seat.

Another ghost fired and Judy ducked as the plasma bolts peppered her shields. She fired at the brute's exposed head and the vehicle stopped where it was. Three more ghosts had appeared but stopped about fifty yards from the damaged warthog. Judy froze and looked around waiting for a surprise attack.

Back in the warthog, Marshal struggled to tear away the metal that held him in place. He watched helplessly as his teammate fought off the oncoming ghosts using only her sidearm. The brute that Judy had flung from the first ghost staggered to its feet and raised its weapon. It was a sidearm with two large bayonetted blades raking forward. The alien raised its weapon and aimed for Judy, who was fully unaware of what was about to happen.

In a flash, Marshal wrenched an arm free and fired his side arm. The bullets hit the Brute in the face, knocking him off balance as he fired his weapon. Judy dove out of the way as the hot spikes shot past her and punctured the nose of the lead ghost. The brute in blue armor bellowed and sped forward as Judy rolled. Marshal put three rounds through the back of the brute's head as it sped past, sending the ghost crashing to a halt. Marshal tore himself free from his metal prison and tossed a frag grenade beneath the remaining ghost. The driver sped forward to try and get out of the way, but the shrapnel cut into his thick flesh, causing him to fall from his seat. Judy staggered over to Marshal, clutching at her ribs. One of the spiker rounds had punctured her side and had gone almost completely through.

"I got nicked," she groaned and nearly toppled into Marshal.

"Don't worry, I've got you!" Marshal assured her, catching her as she almost fell. A sudden glow filled the sky and both spartans looked up to see a mortar bomb arc down towards them.

Back at the base, Jesse was monitoring his squad's vital signs. When he saw Marshal and Judy's flatline, his heart nearly stopped. Sophitia had also been monitoring them from her position inside the command station.

"We've lost Contact with Red One and Red Two," she announced sadly, as if sensing Gold Leader's mournfulness.

"Marines! Spartans! Does anyone read me?" Jesse called over the Team COM. "Eureka! Red Team! Respond!"

"Sir," Roy's voice came in softly. "Permission to go search for my team, sir."

"Denied." Jesse almost growled. "I will not lose another soldier today. Fall back to our position and make sure every entrance to this depot is sealed tight. Understood?" Roy's status light winked once after a brief pause. Jesse understood how his fellow spartan must have felt about losing his teammates on the battle field, but now was not the time to mourn. "What's Brizzolara's position?"

"Eta five minutes sir!" Brizzolara piped up.

"Roger that," Jesse sighed. "As soon as you get here, prepare for combat. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Brizzolara nodded to himself.

The towering spartan grabbed his rifle and hurried out the door. "Gold Team! We have confirmed sightings of Covenant en route to our position. Let's get ready to give them a warm welcome!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" Four status lights winked green.

"Luke I want you and the phantom to provide air support for us. Kimberly, get inside that base and make sure no covenant get in there. Sophitia, you make sure to stand by for a full data purge should any Covenant get past Kimberly."

"Can do Gold Leader," the AI confirmed.

"Dan and Leslie, you're with me." The three spartans cycled the bolts to their weapons and prepared for the oncoming assault.

As Brizzolara sped along the abandoned freeway he began to find it more and more difficult to drive in and out of all the empty vehicles on the road.

"Damn, people sure as hell left in a hurry." He grumbled to himself. The grumble of his voice turned to a humming groan. Brizzolara slowed his driving for a split second to look around. As he did, a single vehicle drove up beside him on the shoulder of the freeway. It was a large vehicle with two spinning blades with and a hovering driver's seat behind them. On the seat sat a large brute with jet black armor and crimson decorations along the alloy. The helmet almost resembled that of a rhinoceros and a large gavel-like hammer was strapped to the alien's back. Brizzolara and the brute chieftain locked eyes for a moment before the beast turned sharply inward towards the warthog. Brizzolara slammed on the breaks but not soon enough. The blades tore through the front of his transport hog and sent the marine and wreckage flying through the air. Brizzolara hit the ground hard, covering his head as chunks of metal fell around him. The totaled warthog landed close by, spilling it's contents of grenades, and live rounds across the road.

Brizzolara shook the stars out of his head as he staggered to his feet. The brute that had rammed his vehicle turned around sped off back down the hill. Just when Brizzolara began to think that the brute had retreated, the churning hum returned. The brute chopper sped towards the marine with black smoke billowing from its exhaust pipes. The chieftain fired off a couple rounds from the mounted brute shots on either side of the spinning blades. The grenades flew right over Brizzolara's head and he tucked to the ground. I was then he noticed the grenades and ammunition rounds scattered about him. The Marine glanced back up as the chopper sped closer to him intent on crushing him.

With nowhere to hide, the Marine stood his ground and armed a frag grenade. Just as the chopper got within range, Brizzolara dropped the grenade a few feet in front of him.

The explosion echoed across the hills and a tower of smoke, fire and shrapnel burst skyward. Gold Team watched with wide eyes as burning shards of debris rained down on the hillside. Jesse checked his team stats to find Brizzolara's vitals flatlined as well. Dan and Leslie saw their team leader's fist clench into a tight ball.

"Sir," Leslie spoke up but Jesse interrupted her.

"I'm fine." Jesse sighed, taking a deep breath and calming himself. "Leslie," he pointed to a small shack to the right. "I want you at that bunker providing sniper support." She nodded and disappeared inside the tiny, one-room building. Inside there were small open windows from which she had a view of the road leading on and off the bridge.

No sooner had she gotten inside than an eerie howl cut through the salty air. "Contacts!" Leslie reported seeing a line of ghosts coming down the highway.

"Let 'em have it!" Jesse ordered as two shots fired off. The lead Brute fell dead causing the other ghosts to plow into the back of him. As the light covenant vehicles continued to pile up, Leslie continued to squeeze off round after round, making each shot count for what it was worth, even killing two brutes with a single bullet.

Another howl thundered in the spartans' ears.

"Up above!" Jesse hollered, aiming his assault rifle at the cliffside beside the dirt road. High on the bluff, a pack of brutes covered in blue armor aimed their spiker weapons down at the two spartans standing in the base's courtyard. A brute captain lumbered up in front of his pack; his elaborate navy blue armor glistening in the early afternoon sun.

"Kill the demons!" He roared and leveled his brute shot. The rest of the pack roared eagerly hoping to be the first to kill the demons that plagued their existence. Dan pulled his trigger and put a volley through one of the brute's head. As Dan continued to squeaze his trigger, Jesse switched to semi-automatic on his assault rifle and began popping off the brutes as well.

By now the aliens seemed to be aware that they were under attack and began to spread out, firing their spiker weapons.

"Gold Leader, we have a problem!" Sophitia's voice came from inside the compound. "We've got more covenant making their way towards the bridge, they're trying to get into the city!"

"I'm on it!" Leslie shouted as she finished off another clip. The ghosts were massing now trying to get onto the Golden Gate and into the city.

"Luke, give Leslie some covering fire!" Jesse hollered into his COM. "We can't let those brutes into the city!"

Luke's status light winked and the phantom rose from underneath the cliff. The main cannon began to unload round after round of plasma spikes into the pressing line of ghosts. The vehicles that weren't burned away instantly were left to mesh into a pile of twisted metal. The brute pilots snarled angrily and scrambled from their vehicles. The ones who were lucky enough to get away were promptly put down by Leslie's sniper fire. The lady spartan ducked against the wall as several brutes fired their spikers at her, only to have the rounds stick into the stone walls of the bunker.

"Use your grenades!" The brute captain bellowed. Dan and Jesse dove to the side as a brute shot round hit the ground where they had been a split second before. The two spartans turned back around the corner and continued firing. The brutes on the ledge hurled a wave of grenades down on the two soldiers. Jesse and Dan ducked into cover again as the grenades stuck into the ground and walls. Dan could hear the loud beeping as the grenades armed and a moment later, detonated. The spartans' audio dampeners drowned out the ringing explosions as spikes were sent flying in every direction. .

"Jesus! What is with these brutes?" Dan hollered as he put down another two aliens. "They just got an entire armory upgrade!"

"Worry about that later!" Jesse ordered and fired into the brute captain's knee caps, making the alien's legs buckle. As the brute fell down the cliff, Jesse put a final round through it's throat just before it hit the ground at the base of the ledge. The captains pack howled angrily seeing their leader get put down in such a way. Another volley of spike grenades rained down on Dan and Jesse, both ducking into cover again. Most of the grenades fell short, but two landed closer to Jesse's position. The Spartan's heart rate jumped and he ducked as the grenade exploded in a flash of light. Jesse hit the ground and grunted in pain. His right side felt like it was on fire.

"Sir!" Dan exclaimed and was about to run across the courtyard to assist, when Jesse jumped to his feet as several spikes peppered the ground close to his position. Dan put down the brute who had fired at his team leader and ducked back as more spikes punctured the wall next to him.

Jesse leaned against the wall and held his assault rifle loosely. His right side had two spikes sticking out of it and two more were lodged in the shoulder plate of his armor.

"Kim!" Jesse shouted. "Meet up with Roy and get down to the base of the hill. Grab whatever heavy weapons you can and try and take the covenant out from one of the side roads leading up the hill! If we don't punch some holes in their lines, we're going to be toast here!"

"Yes sir!" Kimberly grabbed her MA5C, and hurried down to the elevator in the lower corner of the command center.

Jesse ducked back into cover as another spike grenade hit the wall he was hiding behind. The grenade detonated and blew a chunk out of the stone sending more spikes into Spartan-029's armor. The red-armored spartan staggered forward clutching at his bleeding shoulder with hot metal sticking into it.

By now several of the brutes were clambering down the cliffside. With his assault rifle clutched in his left hand and an SMG held in his right, Spartan-029 emerged from his cover position and began spraying down the approaching brutes. The towering aliens jumped in surprise as Dan lobbed a frag grande into their lines, tearing their tough hides to shreds.

The lumbering aliens had just about been pressed back when an angry roar seemed to shake the ground. Down the hill, the brutes scrambling away from their wrecked ghosts stood to the side at attention. Leslie picked off several before reloading.

"What's going on?" She whispered into her COM. She leveled her barrel with another brute's head and was about to pull the trigger when she saw a vehicle charging towards them. In the driver's seat was a hulking brute chieftain in elaborate gold armor. "We have incoming!" She shouted, ducking back in the window as several of the remaining brutes fired their spikers.

Dan lobbed a frag grenade as the chopper sped up the hill. The gold armored chieftain was thrown from his seat and sent rolling across the ground.

"There's more coming down the road," Luke reported and turned the phantom's main cannon to the main highway as more choppers came into view. Leslie squeezed off two more sniper rounds before ducking out of the way of a spike grenade. She tossed a frag grenade over her shoulder down the hill and into the pile of ghosts causing a fountain of fire and plasma to burst into the air. Alien and ghost parts went flying in every direction.

Luke was busy manning the phantom's main turret and spotted a single chopper out of the corner of his eye charging straight at him from the cliffside overlooking the compound. Plasma spikes peppered the front of the vehicle melting the blades and mounted brute shots, but the driver refused to yield. The red and black chieftain hit the boosters on his vehicle and sped forward off the cliffside. The chopper smashed into the phantom, causing the ship to lurch like wounded beast as Luke struggled to regain control of it.

Jesse and Dan rove out of the way as a downpour of shrapnel threatened to crush them. The hammer-wielding chieftain landed on his feet and roared, triumphantly pounding his chest.

Just as Luke was about to regain control of the dropship an explosion erupted inside the troop bay. Dan and Jesse turned to see the gold-armored chieftain fire two more volleys from his fuel-rod cannon into the troop bay.

"I'm losing it!" Luke shouted as he struggled with the controls.

"Gold Five, ditch the phantom! Now!" Jesse ordered. The hammer chieftain snarled and lunged for the spartan, swinging his massive gravity hammer. Jesse rolled away just in time to avoid being flattened. The fuel-rod chieftain fired another volley into the dropship as the phantom tried to pull away.

"He's going down!" Dan exclaimed firing on the gold-armored brute. His rounds only plinked off the brute's shields, giving the alien another chance to finish the phantom off. With one last shot the dropship exploded, sending plasma and burning debris down the cliffside towards the water far below.

"Gold Five!" Jesse turned and sprayed the hammer chieftain with his SMG. The brute growled irritatedly and swat the weapons away. Jesse charged in and rammed the brute with all the weight he could muster. The chieftain was knocked off balance and slammed into a wall. A strong knee to his stomach knocked the spartan back and the brute swung a heavy fist, expecting to catch the demon off guard. Jesse bent backwards as the fist whizzed by over his head and came back with a hard hook to the chieftain's jaw. The blow rocked the chieftain's head stunning him for a moment and dislocating his jaw. Jesse's feet left the ground as he jumped into a spinning kick that caught the brute in the side of the head, smashing his rhino-like helmet.

The fuel rod chieftain bellowed and fired a round at the spartans. Dan ducked out of the way as the plasma bolt shot past him and hit the wall close to Jesse and the hammer chieftain. Both combatants were flung to the ground by the force of the explosion giving the brute the chance it needed to finish the team leader off. He lumbered over to the dazed spartan and aimed the barrel of his weapon at his chest. Just when Spartan-029 thought the chieftain was about to pull the trigger, a sniper round fired and bounced off the chieftain's shields.

The brute looked up at Leslie who was standing in the doorway of the bunker, gun barrel leveled at him. She fired another round, this time the bullet knocked the brute's shield's out causing him to stagger back a couple steps. Leslie put another round through the chieftain's head as he pulled the trigger one last time on his weapon. The plasma bolt fired into the bunker as the chieftain fell dead on the ground. Spartan-055's shields flared before draining completely. The force of the blast hurled her through the remains of the stone wall and sent her tumbling down the steep hillside.

Dan sprang out of cover, firing his BR55 into the oncoming brutes charging up the hill before tossing a grenade in their direction to stay them off for a moment. The spartan looked down the hillside beyond the demolished bunker but found no signs of Leslie. Another roar grabbed his attention as the hammer chieftain staggered to his feet. Blood poured from cuts in his face from the jagged shards of armor lodged in his hide.

Jesse rolled away as the brute swung his hammer again and grabbed his SMG; his reaction time was slowing due to his wounded shoulder. The brute swung the hammer over the Spartan's head and brought the weapon around again as Jesse unloaded his SMG into the chieftain's face. The axe blade on the back of the hammer struck spartan-029 square in the chest, cutting deep into his breast plate. The spartan did not have time to react to the blade plunging into his chest wall, for the chieftain swung through him, sending the spartan into the abandoned barracks. The impact shattered the stone structure bringing the barracks down on top of the red spartan.

Deep inside the mountain Kimberly's heart nearly stopped when she saw her team leader's vitals fall to barely a single blip.

"Dan!" She shouted, but her teammate silenced her with a flashing, red status light. He rolled towards the fuel rod gun and aimed it at the remaining chieftain. The brute dove out of the way as Dan fired into the main doors of the command center, melting the metal into a twisted mesh.

"Sophitia! Seal the doors!" Dan fired another round at the chieftain, deliberately missing to cause another explosion to drown out the noise of the blast-doors sealing themselves off.

"Dan, what are you doing!" Kimberly shouted as the power inside the compound shut off.

"Maintain radio silence!" Sophitia ordered.

Outside Dan fired the last round in the fuel rod cannon. The chieftain got its feet and bared its fangs at the spartan. Dan dropped the fuel rod gun and armed his last frag grenade as he prepared for his final stand. The brutes behind him raised their weapons and fired.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Holy City, High Charity, Council Sanctum, Ruins of Installation-04 (7 days before the attack on Earth)**

The honor guards trudged down the unending halls of high charity. The rear guard continually shoved at Luna who staggered along clumsily, trying to get used to her new legs. The female clicked her mandibles irritatedly at him; if she were not chained, she would have easily dealt away with him.

At last the three elites came to a ramp leading up to a pair of brilliant, shimmering doors. Along both sides of the isle, stood dozens of honor guards. They eyed the female curiously as she was led to the top of the ramp. The great doors opened and Luna looked around the great hall before her. Bleacher -like seats lined the walls leading to a pedestal at the far back of the room. The honor guards shoved her inside, causing her to stumble forward and fall to her knees. The great doors closed behind her and Luna found herself lost in the darkness. As she struggled to adjust her vision to the shadows the sound of a hum echoed in the room. At the end of the chamber, the floor opened up and three new aliens whom Luna had not seen before emerged from the floor below. Each sat in an elaborate hover throne with tall, highly decorated crowns resting on their heads and shoulders. They looked rather fragile with their skinny arms sticking out of their massive gowns draped over their bodies.

"Come hither ," the one on Luna's left gestured, beckoning her forward with a crooked finger. His voice was just a whisper but the sound carried heavily throughout the chamber. Luna staggered over until she stood on top of a small pedestal herself before the three hierarchs. "So this is the female that was recovered from the relic."

"It appears so," the prophet on the right scratched his chin peering keenly at Luna. "She does not carry herself like any Sangheili I have ever encountered. It would make sense why the shipmaster who reported her was so suspicious."

"Indeed." The prophet on the left nodded.

"Okay, enough with this whole skepticism bit!" Luna snapped, surprising the two aliens. "What is going on around here? Where am I and who are you all?"

"You mean you do not know?" The first prophet leered at her.

"What do you think?" Luna's mandibles clicked angrily. " Clearly there isn't any intelligent life around here."

"How dare you!" The prophet snapped. "You are in no position to question us on who we are or anything for that matter."

The prophet in the middle raised his hand to silence his associate. "You are right to wonder what is going on." He spoke in a low tone which rang a sinister note in Luna's ears. "But while you are in our holy city we ask that you show proper respect to those who deserve it."

""And that would be you?" Luna crossed her arms defiantly.

You would be wise to watch your tone with us, Sangheili," the first prophet pointed a punishing finger at Luna. "You are already walking on delicate ground. Do not give us more reason to execute you."

"Execute me for what?" Luna scoffed. "I have done nothing wrong, that I can think of, let alone inquire as to where I am and what is going on! So unless you care to fill me in, I suggest you put away your empty threats unless you want me to put you away instead."

"In due time," the middle prophet raised a hand silencing all of them. He was clearly the central power in this little union. "But first, it would be rather rude, on all our parts, if we were not formally introduced." He glanced at the prophet to his right. "We are the three prophet hierarchs of The Covenant."

"I am the Prophet of Regret," the first hierarch spoke, keeping his eyes narrowed at Luna. The long lashes that covered his eye lids did not help his appearance appeal to her.

"I am the Prophet of Mercy," the hierarch on Luna's right spoke in a raspy tone she had missed beforehand. He was clearly quite old and far more aged than the other two.

"And I am the Prophet of Truth," the central hierarch spoke up, taking over the interrogation once again. "The three of us rule the Covenant as our names imply." He extended a hand to Luna. "And what would your name be, out of curiosity."

Luna bit her tongue, or would have if she even had one. After a moment of silence she answered. "Luna."

"Luna," Regret echoed, tasting the name on his tongue. "A very unique name indeed. None in the Covenant have ever possessed a name which sounded so divine."

"Like it was chosen by the gods themselves," Mercy praised, extending his hands towards the ceiling that disappeared into the shadows overhead.

"Putting aside our guest's fascinating name," Truth brought them back to the matter at hand. "We are curious as to your origins young Luna."

"Young?" Luna thought to herself. She was already a grown woman; not exactly a young figure in her eyes.

"You see," Regret spoke up. "You were found inside an ancient artifact. Just floating through the vastness of the stars. Untouched by time, as it would seem." Regret pressed a button on his throne and a hologram beside Luna appeared, resembling the capsule she had been found in. Almost at once she recognized it and her mandibles fell open. The prophets noticed her expression but remained silent about it. "This relic has been untouched by time." Regret continued. "The Covenant have spent countless years, thousands of years, studying the gifts left by the gods. There have been very few in tact and now we find you within this relic, both as new as the day you were created." The prophet deactivated the hologram pulling Luna's attention back to him. "Now the question is, how did you come across such a thing and how did you lock yourself inside?"

"I..." Luna's voice trailed off as she began to think back to what had happened. Her memory was still fuzzy after waking up. She could vaguely remember the shouts and cries as those around her scrambled to fight off the parasites threatening to take over their ship. She could remember a strong hand grabbing hold of her arm and hurling her into a capsule before it closed making everything instantly dark. The next thing she realized, she was awake in her cell. "I... I don't really remember." She replied, hanging her head.

"I see," Regret gave his fellow hierarchs a disgusted look. Truth ignored him and folded his hands as he stared at the female in deep thought.

"So you have no immediate reoccurring memory of what happened to you before you were sealed within," He pondered aloud. "What do you know so far since you have woken up."

"Next to nothing," Luna snapped, her temper beginning to rise again.

Truth turned to Mercy who bobbed his head slightly with a faint smile on his mouth.

"For many millennia the Covenant has been seeking to follow the way of the gods. Upon our home world, we prophets searched for and studied the relics left by the ancients, hoping to acquire their knowledge and way of life." His eyes narrowed at Luna for a moment. "However, unlike you Sangheili, we used the technology left behind whereas you merely wished to worship the relics themselves."

"Relics?" Luna looked down at the hologram projector expecting for an image to pop up. Truth noticed and brought up several images from the Covenant's archives of forerunner artifacts and structures. Luna's eyes widened as she recognized the structures that had been scattered throughout the galaxies.

"The Sangheili and the Prophets were at war," Mercy continued. "Your kind would not have us use the ancient's relics for our own purposes, which nearly led to both our kinds wiping each other out." Luna broke her gaze to look up at the elder who looked rather disgusted in her as if she had been the cause of all their past fighting. "But then our species came to a compromise. We discovered that the gods left behind a way to follow in their footsteps." Mercy's boney fingers pressed several buttons on his throne and a larger hologram appeared overhead. Luna and the prophets looked up to see the destroyed remains of Installation-04 and the Covenant armada, searching the wreckage.

"Halo!" Luna gasped in shock. She remembered seeing images of the enormous ring worlds being built but had never seen one so close.

"Yes," Mercy nodded and raised his hands towards the image of the destroyed ring world. "The ancient's scriptures told of seven sacred rings! That when lit, will burn a path into the divine beyond. Propelling all believers who are worthy of salvation along the path to becoming gods!" Mercy let his arms fall into his lap and he looked down with an air of sadness about him. "But the humans..."

"The humans who escaped our last attack, somehow discovered one of the sacred rings." Regret spoke with a hostile hiss in his voice. "The vermin managed to avoid our fleet, land on the ring and destroy the holy ring before any of us could use it for its divine purpose."

"Divine purpose?" Luna almost choked on the prophet's words. "You think the Halos are the key to making you gods?" The three prophets stared at her curiously. "It's impossible to become immortal. The rings will not grant you as such. They will only kill you!"

"Were we not firm believers in the promises that they hold, then yes, we would be." Regret rebutted. "But I assure you that we are all safe from Halo's fire. The only ones who need to fear for their lives would be the humans and the heretics that follow their own beliefs."

"It doesn't matter how delusional you are." Luna scoffed. "You could have the strongest faith amongst the stars but the end result will still be the same. You'd be dead!"

"Blasphemy!" Regret slammed a fist on his throne's arm rest. "You, who cannot remember anything before being locked in that relic, has the audacity to make claims about the beliefs of all the Covenant! You are far more foolish than any grunt worth speaking of!"

"That is quite enough!" Truth spoke, putting a quick end to the quarrel. He peered at Luna before looking down at something in his lap. The small gauntlet that had been found on Luna when she arrived had been stripped and now rested on his red robes. The prophet stroked the device delicately before looking back up at Luna. "If you claim to know what Halo's true purpose is, then what proof can you provide to support your claim?"

Luna froze as if she had been stunned. These aliens were openly challenging her to do something that before she was dying to do, but now she was beginning to reconsider. She locked her eyes with Truth's; she could tell he was a sharp mind amongst the Covenant leadership. She also wondered how it was he had come to power as the reigning hierarch. Luna could have sworn she saw the hinting of a smirk at the corner of the prophet's mouth but Truth waved a dismissive hand when Luna could provide no answer.

"Then your claim will be dismissed as mere heresy." He spoke.

"What!" Luna snapped. Behind her, the doors opened up and two honor guards entered the sanctum to take her away. "You can't do this to me!" Luna shouted furiously. "You can't just blow me off like I'm some insect because I speak the truth!"

Truth only glared at her. "If you really spoke the truth about the sacred rings then it would be you in this throne instead of me."

"I just might take you up on that!" Luna took a step forward, ready to lunge at the prophet. A sudden crackle of energy and a searing pain struck her in the back. The honor guards stunned her with their energy staves, rendering the female unconscious.

"Take her away." Regret spat. "Do not disgrace our presence with her filth any longer!" The guards bowed and grabbed Luna's limp arms before dragging her away.

Truth pressed another button on his armrest and a door to his left opened up. A towering silver-haired brute, carrying a gravity hammer lumbered into the sanctum. Tartarus was easily recognized as a great leader amongst the brute packs and recognized by the white mohawk he displayed. The chieftain knelt down before the hierarchs and Truth smiled. In his eyes, the brutes were the perfect killing machines for the Covenant; far more than the honor-bound Elites.

"Tartarus, see to it that the shipmaster and his crew who discovered that relic are greatly rewarded. And then I want you and your brutes to dispose of them. But be quick about it and let no one hear of your actions."

"I am here to serve you noble prophet." The brute smiled, showing his long fangs. "Your will shall be done." Truth waved a hand and Tartarus rose to his feet and lumbered out of the council sanctum.

When the door had closed again, Regret turned to his peers. "We should execute her as quickly as possible. If she were to escape and expose us, then all that we have worked for will be for rot!"

"We need not worry about her." Truth replied calmly stroking the device in his lap. "We will keep her alive for the time being." He glanced up at the hologram of the burning ring world just outside of High Charity. "I have faith that we will find other rings soon enough. And when we find the key we seek, we will embark unto the Great Journey at last." The prophet narrowed his eyes at the pedestal where Luna had been standing. "We shall let her live long enough to watch the fire of the sacred rings burn her away while we are propelled along the path."

**0530 Hours, October 27, 2552 (military calendar)/ New San Francisco , Planet Earth (12 hours after Landfall)**

Kimberly sat quietly in the darkness. Hours had passed by slowly for her and Roy. Spartan-099 had contemplated blowing the entire munitions depot and taking the covenant forces outside along with them, but Kimberly had ordered him to reconsider. Both remaining spartans were getting anxious and fidgety about waiting around for the AI to give them the okay to go out and search for their teammates. Neither Gold or Red Team's vitals were registering on their team stats.

"I'm sorry to make you wait so long." Sophitia spoke into Kimberly's ears. Spartan-049 had been repeatedly taking the AI out of the main control console, and storing her inside her MJOLNIR armor for hours at a time, only to put her back to give the area a quick scanning before being yanked again.

Outside the brute forces had gone but Covenant troops still lurked along the bridge to the city. Sophitia had been able to send encrypted updates on Gold Team's status via an old ethernet line Roy had found leading in and out of the base. So far the battle for earth was not going well. The UNSC navy had been doing its part to keep the continually arriving covenant fleet from landing on earth's surface. But from out of nowhere, a single massive ship had emerged from slipspace. The covenant dreadnaught was miles long and had easily decimated the remaining naval forces and MAC platforms impeding it's decent to New Mombassa. It was nothing like the humans had ever encountered before and the casualties sustained from the attack were severe. The dreadnaught had bombarded the planet's surface over the covenant's original landing sight, where the spartans had first lost contact with John.

Another hour passed before Kimberly put Sophitia back into the command system. The AI was silent for a moment. "Looks like things are a real mess for the UNSC forces up there." There was another pause, before she found something that caught her attention. "I don't believe it!" She gasped causing Roy and Kimberly to jolt upright.

"What is it?" Kim asked leaning over the console.

"It's the Master Chief! He was on the Covenant ship that is now excavating what is believed to be a forerunner artifact beneath New Mombassa!"

"Was?" Roy and Kim exchanged a quick glance.

"The last transmission received, the Master Chief ejected himself out of the ship on its descent to Earth. According to this, a squad of marines has been dispatched to rendezvous with him."

"He ejected himself?" Roy looked at Kimberly who only shook her head.

"Wait a second," Sophitia grabbed their attention again. "We've got incoming drop pods and phantoms closing in on our position."

"Drop pods? You mean Covenant? Or ODST?" Kimberly grabbed her battle rifle and cycled the bolt.

"Both," Sophitia answered.

"Roy, get to the docks." Kimberly ordered. "If the ODST's land near the water, they may need you to fish them out."

Roy bobbed his head once and disappeared into the shadows of the compound.

"Sophitia, open the blast doors."

"Understood," the AI confirmed and opened the heavy doors covering the entrance to the command center. Kimberly stared at the melted metal outer plating. Outside she could hear the faint roar of the super sonic drop pods closing in on the compound. She punched the doors hard, leaving massive dents in the metal plating before thrusting her leg forward, forcing her way through the doors. Just as she pried her way through, the drop pods hit ground. Dust, smoke and debris instantly covered the compound and filled the command center. Kimberly shouldered her rifle as she emerged from the hole she had made.

The rain outside allowed the dust to settle quicker giving the spartan a better view. Several ODST and Covenant drop pods littered the compound and the roadside. A moment later the covers blew off and the warriors emerged. Kimberly locked onto the nearest Elite and aimed her barrel.

"No!" One of the ODST's shouted. Kimberly jerked as she squeezed the trigger. The bullets blew out the elite's shields and knocked it to the ground. The alien cursed in his native language as he ran his fingers over the dents in his glossy red armor. "Stand down Spartan! They're with us!"

Kimberly looked down at the trooper in disbelief, but did not lower her weapon. He was a captain and a hardened veteran of the ODST's. The ODST's and Elites gathered around the captain and the lone spartan; the elites giving Kimberly a suspicious eye. She turned her head in their direction and tapped the trigger slightly as if warning them to back off.

"Spread out!" The captain ordered. "The other Spartans are here somewhere. We need to find them all."

"Roy, stand down if you see any elites," Kim whispered on a private COM. "But don't let your guard drop. Understood?" Roy's status light winked once. Kimberly squeezed back inside the command center and pulled Sophitia's crystal out of the port and inserted her into her armor.

"Captain," Kimberly saluted as she emerged into the rain again. "Will you be able to brief me on what is going on exactly?"

The Captain was walking about the compound, inspecting the wreckage from the fight the previous day. Brute carcasses lay everywhere and weapons scattered about. Spiker rounds stuck out of the walls which looked like they were ready to crumble at the slightest touch.

"It's a long story," he replied; he had a slight russian accent in his voice. "Just about the time we received the message that the Covenant were changing leadership positions, the Brutes attacked in full force. Most of the elite forces here on earth were killed, but those who survived have joined up with the UNSC forces."

"And we just let them?"

"Not at first." The ODST shook his head. "But after about a week, ONI officers began to think about this whole alliance in a different way." He stopped at the railing that looked down the cliffside. "From what we've been able to understand from the elites who have joined us, the Covenant leaders have been planning something pretty big since the beginning of this whole war. The prophet hierarchs seem to have been lying to our spilt-chinned friends over there for all these years."

"About what exactly?" Kim glanced over as ODST's and elites worked to remove piles of rubble.

"The truth about what ONI has been talking about for the past month."

"The Halos?" The captain nodded and Kimberly's grip on her battle rifle tightened slightly. "It took their own kind lying to them to get them to realize how dangerous those things are?"

"I know, I don't like it either." The captain shook his head and glanced over at the elites. "And quite frankly I don't trust them much myself either. Especially after everything that's happened in this damned war." He turned to look into Kimberly's gold visor. "But right now, Earth is all we have left. If joining up with the elites to stop the rest of the Covenant means saving our home planet, then I suppose I'll have to live with that."

Kimberly paused to think over his words. As far as she knew, the only remaining spartans were John, Roy and herself; there had been no reports from Blue Team since they had left earth.

"Is there any hope left for earth?" Sophitia asked.

"We're trying everything we can." The captain replied. "Right now our mission is to gather all remaining spartans and elites to make a final assault on the Covenant forces around New Mombassa. Quite frankly I think this plan that Commander Keyes has come up with is one big suicide mission. But since I don't have any better ideas I'm just along for the ride."

Kimberly was staring down at the waves crashing against the rocks below the cliffs. Everything about this day felt cold and dismal. She was lost in thought when she spotted something on the rocks. She squinted and her visor automatically zoomed in on the target.

"Luke!" She sprang over the railing, startling the ODST and slid down the cliffside until she was beside her teammate's body. Spartan-085 lay motionless on the cold, wet rocks. HIs armor smoldering slightly. Plasma had burned through the gel layer of his suit, exposing bare skin before sizzling it away; almost to the bone in some areas. Kimberly took hold of him and hoisted his body over her shoulders. Step by step, she climbed back up the steep cliffside. Several ODST's waited for her at the top and helped haul the spartan onto the concrete walkway. Kimberly pulled Luke's head up and inserted Sophitia's crystal into his suit. Immediately the AI began to get to work. "How is he?" Kimberly asked anxiously.

"I've seen worse with you five." The AI replied. "He's suffered several third-degree burns and there's internal bleeding but other than that he's going to make it as long as we get him to a medic soon."

Kimberly looked at the captain. "Do you know how many of our ships survived the Covenant's attack?"

The captain shook his head. "Not many. Only a handful of frigates and cruisers. There were two destroyer class ships as well but they're sitting directly over our heads." He pointed towards the sky above the space elevator.

"Was one of them a gold class frigate?"

"I believe so," The ODST nodded. "Not one hundred percent certain though."

"I can take care of that." Sophitia spoke up. "Put me back into the computer system one last time. I can look up the current ship registration." Kimberly jumped over the platform ledge and disappeared into the compound. After scanning the inside to see if any of the elites had snuck in she slipped Sophitia into the AI port.

"We've found one!" An elite hollered from outside. Kimberly left the AI and poked her head outside. Three elites and two ODST's stood on the collapsed barracks. Kimberly tore through the remaining doorway and dashed over to them. They stopped and stared at her when she stood still, looking down at her team leader, buried in the rubble.

"This is Red Three," Roy's voice came over the COM. "We have confirmation of a spartan down here. It's Spartan-055."

"Leslie," Kimberly muttered to herself.

"There's another over here!" A young elite in clad blue armor waved as a pair of ODST's struggled to shove the remaining debris off of Dan's body. Kimberly ran over to them, her heart nearly stopping when she saw her best friend's body laying on the ground in a puddle.

Spikes stuck out from Dan's body giving him a porcupine-like appearance. The spiker rounds peppered his back and shoulders and plasma burns covered his MJONIR armor. What caught Kimberly's attention however was the bleeding stump where his left arm was supposed to be. The Spartan's arm was missing below the elbow and the skin above was burned crisp.

"Doc!" One of the ODST's called. "We need a med kit! Stat!"

An ODST with a red cross on her shoulder hustled over and knelt down beside the fallen spartan. She pulled a small holo-pad from her supply pack and pulled a USB chord from it before attaching it to Dan's AI port. After a moment she looked up at Kimberly and the elites. "He's still alive, but barely. If we don't get him to a clinic soon, he won't survive the afternoon."

An elite commander reached up and spoke into his helmet's COM. "Bring the phantoms down. We must get the demons medical attention immediately."

Kimberly shot the elite a sharp stare. The armored alien glanced at her and shrugged. "Apology. Old habits die hard."

"Noted." Kimberly muttered, cycling the bolt in her rifle. The elite gave what must have been a grin and gripped his needler pistol. The ODST's and elite minors all looked at one another then to the two warriors staring each other down. After a tense moment Kimberly turned curtly and joined the elites helping to remove Gold Leader from the rubble. The elite minors and the ODST's all sighed in relief before glancing at one another. Each side went about their duties, but not before giving each other a slight huff.

**Ninth Age of Reclamation, Covenant Holy City, High Charity, Detention Center, Orbit around Delta Halo ( 2 weeks after initial attack on Earth)**

Luna groaned as she sat irritatedly in her holding cell. The past weeks had been nothing less that miserable for her. This was nothing new, she was used to being thrown into uncomfortable situations but nothing quite this irritating. The guards had paid her little attention and had been rather slummy about her meals being delivered. Most of the time they were flung at her and before she could stagger to her feet, the barrier was already up, leaving Luna to eat the muck off the floor like a wild animal.

The process of being imprisoned was not at a complete loss to her though. She had been getting plenty of time to study the Covenant's technology. A lot of their tech seemed to be based around energy shields, much like the kind she was used to using. When the guards switched shifts for the first time, Luna had taken advantage of their smug attitudes towards females and lured them into an ambush. After taunting them for several minutes the male elites dropped the barrier to her cell and lumbered in to teach her a lesson in regarding her superiors.

The moment the elites entered her cell, Luna hurled herself on shaky legs at the largest one, knocking him to the floor. The male struggled to fight against her but found himself helpless against Luna's superior strength. By the time the struggle had ended, Luna had torn off several pieces of the elite's armor as well as broken several of his bones in the process before his partner managed to kick her off of him. The guards from then on were warned of Luna's strength and that if anyone was to go near her cell then to take extreme caution. However, the number of guards choosing to head the warning would remain to be seen.

Across from her cell, the older elite, Yates as he had come to introduce himself, watched as Luna tinkered away at the armor parts she had stolen from the earlier guard. Most of the time she seemed unaware that she was being watched by him but even more curious was her attitude. She did not act like any elite he had ever heard of before let alone any grunt, jackal or brute; unless it involved her fighting with the guards.

Luna was busily at work figuring out her new device when Yates grabbed her attention. "Young one, what exactly are you doing there?" He asked curiously as he continued to lean against the back wall of his cell.

Luna broke her concentration and looked up at him. She hated being called young. She was far more experienced and clever than any of these aliens were. What gave them the right to treat her like she was inferior? Luna was about to ignore him and go back to work when the doors opened up and the cell block was suddenly filled with noise.

"Get your damned hands off me!"

"Quit shoving split face! We're moving!"

Luna and Yates both craned their necks forward to see a group of elites shoving a group of smaller aliens into the cell next to Yates. There was easily ten of them all crammed into that one cell. As soon as the barrier activated, the new prisoners whirled around and slammed their fists against the forcefield.

The guards laughed and walked out of the prison block.

"That's right you split chinned bastards! You'd better walk away!" One marine fumed. "You don't wanna mess with me when I'm like this! I'd kick your ass as well as your friends!"

"Easy Tony!" Another marine grabbed him by the shoulder. "Save your energy. Something tells me we will need it."

"For what?" Tony demanded. He was a corporal in his mid twenties who had advanced quickly to his current rank after barely surviving the assault on Reach. "They're just going to slaughter us for fun like they did the rest of the platoon! I may as well get it out of my system now while I can."

"You keep forgetting one thing." The marine raised a silencing finger. "We still have a secret weapon with us."

"Oh? And what might that be? A nail file?"

"No smart ass, I'm talking about the spartan."

"Master Chief?" One of the other marines piped up suddenly looking less exhausted than he did when he had come in. "He's going to come for us?"

The marine nodded. "It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm certain he will."

"How can you be so sure?" Another marine muttered darkly as he proceeded to pout in the corner.

"Just look at this place. This is the entire Covenant fleet right here. This would be the chance we've been waiting for to annihilate the Covenant once and for all."

"You really think that the Master Chief can destroy this entire armada on his own?" Tony raised a skeptical eye brow.

"You heard about what he did at the award ceremony. That spartan destroyed two Covenant fleets as well as one of those Halo rings! All by himself!"

Luna felt her hearts race inside her chest. These new beings looked familiar to her. She remembered having skin like theirs, physical features that males like these were attracted to. But these men, despite their tough attitudes, were still so frail; weak in comparison to her. But this one person they were talking about; this Master Chief, this Spartan. He had been the one to destroy Installation-04. And if the rumors were true, then that meant she was not entirely alone. There were others like her who had survived all these millennia to awaken as she had and combat these aliens who called themselves the Covenant. But a nagging doubt still lingered in her mind about the marines who continued to chatter amongst themselves.

"Are these... descendants?" She thought to herself.

"When Master Chief get onboard this hulking ship, he's going to come find us to help him rid the galaxy of these Covey bastards."

"Do you humans really think it will be as easy as you claim?" Yates growled in disgust.

The marines turned and stared at the wall that separated them from Yates. "Quite frankly, we don't give a rat's ass what you think," one of them spoke up. "When we get out of here you alien bastards are going to be begging for your heathen gods to save your sorry asses from the wrath we drop on your heads."

Yates laughed to himself and stared across the room at Luna. "I do suppose we shall see humans. And if that is the case, then I wish you godspeed."

Tony clenched his fist tight and kicked the wall hard. "Shut it squid-face! We don't need your mockery or your pity!"

Luna watched as Yates closed his eyes and began to relax into an almost meditative state. "You never had my pity humans. You have always had my admiration. And since I have lost faith in my Covenant I only with to put it in a force I believe is truly righteous and deserving of it." And with that, Yates fell silent as he drifted into a light slumber. Tony and the other marines scowled at the wall before turning their heads to see Luna staring at them. Right away they could tell she was different from the other elites, not just in her appearance but in the way she looked at him. Tony felt their eyes lock and he fell silent, almost as if his whole body went numb and tingly. That is until one of his squad mates spoke up.

"What are you looking at!" He spat on the forcefield causing the saliva to sizzle against the energy. Luna snapped out of her trance and shook her head. She glanced at Tony one last time before shying away to the back of her cell.

Another day passed by and Luna found herself struggling to focus on anything around her. Her mind was a mess with questions and ideas. She wanted to get out of here and find this 'spartan' that these humans were discussing constantly. From the way the humans made him sound he seemed like an indestructible god or a demon as the guards had described him to be. Luna was almost certain that this Master Chief was a lone survivor of her people.

Luna was summoning the courage to speak to the humans about their famed spartan when Yates interrupted her again.

"If I amy be so inclined to ask again, what exactly is it you are making?"

Luna looked at him in surprise then down to the gauntlet she had torn from one of the guard's arm during her early scuffle in the cell block. The marines who had finally piped down perked up and turned to listen in on the conversation.

"It's a way to help me get out of here." Luna replied, not fully trusting the elite's words.

"You do realize that is impossible to escape once the Covenant has you," Yates frowned slightly.

"That's just a load of bullshit pal!" One of the marines laughed out loud. "I guess you never heard about the spartan that you spilt-chinned morons decided to capture all those years ago. It was something about getting revenge for him killing an elite prince of yours and do you remember what happened?" He turned to another of his squad mates who wore a big grin.

"Yeah, I think it went something like, boom! He destroyed the Covenant fleet that had taken him captive."

"That's enough!" Luna snapped seeing as how the humans were using their numbers to gang up on their neighboring prisoner. The marines all jumped slightly at being scolded like children but glared at Luna none the less. Luna only rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Yates.

"How is it you can say that you admire humans when they treat you like this?" She demanded scornfully.

Yates almost chuckled at that. "It is not entirely undeserved that they speak to me this way." He pointed out.

"No shit Sherlock!" One of the marines rolled his eyes.

"I am one of the few who has followed in the footsteps of the gods since my induction into the ranks of the Covenant." Yates continued. "I was just a young recruit myself when the hierarchs declared war on the humans. At that time I was trying my hardest to pass through the elite ranks to become a zealot. Therefore I was always going out of my way to outdo my fellow elites. I would take on extra missions whenever possible, no matter how difficult they were for me. I always felt that I had to carry out my duties with the most efficiency and cunning to please those who were my superiors."

"Well congratulations split-face." Another marine waved his hands in open mockery of the elite's story. "You've just become another Covenant lapdog."

"James, shut up." Tony hissed, surprising his teammate by his remark.

Yates closed his eyes before continuing. "Eventually I decided that in order to carry out my duties to the best of my ability, I would have to learn more about my enemy. So I began researching into restricted logs about you humans. And what I found still surprises me to this very day."

"And?" Luna asked leaning forward, so that her snout was almost touching the barrier. "What did you find out."

Yates smiled at her. "When war was first declared, the hierarchs explained that the humans who inhabited worlds once populated by the ancients, were carrying relics with them. They said that humans did not want to relinquish these relics for us to study and were destroying them. And therefore to preserve them we would have to annihilate the humans."

"Gee thanks." James muttered again, getting a punch in the arm from Tony.

"It was not until we came across your frozen world, you called Sidewinder, that my curiosity got the better of me. By then I was a major in the ranks with a chance at getting promoted to special operations commander. My squad had driven you humans out of your cities and villages but I stayed behind to do one last sweep before being extracted."

Yates could see in his mind's eye, the events of that day over twenty-five years ago. The elite had been searching the city streets alone looking for any more humans, making sure that none escaped his wrath. His red armor glistened in the darkness of the moonlight. The major was about to call off his search when he heard a rustling nearby. He swung his massive head as a shadow darted into a narrow alley. Yates growled to himself and chased after the figure. The human ran as fast as she could, carrying a small bag with her. She was not very fast for being so young and in the prime of her physical maturity.

The young woman was dumping over trash cans and anything else she could grab hold of to slow the pursuing elite down. After nearly tripping over a pile of recycling bins, Yates snarled in irritation as he watched the woman flee down the open street. The major engaged his active camouflage and took off in a different direction.

The young female did not stop running until she reached the edges of her town where endless fields of snow lay. She stopped and turned to look over her shoulder to find the streets empty. She gave the area a quick sweep with her eyes, expecting to see the monsters that had slaughtered her friends and family coming after her as well. She wanted to collapse from exhaustion. Her lungs burned, her legs, feet and stomach ached. The girl finally broke down crying, her hot tears falling into the icy snow. She lay there for a long time weeping her energy away. When she finally got up, she wobbled on her feet as they threatened to give way under her.

A loud hiss caught her attention. She turned around as Yates plunged his energy sword into her gut. The girl's mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide in shock as the blistering hot plasma burned through her.

Yates, growled, his mandibles quivering angrily. "Where are they?" He tightened his grip on his sword and forced the blade in deeper. "Where are the relics you are hiding?" The girl only shook her head, not understanding what the alien was trying to say. Yates grew impatient and grabbed the girl by her throat before yanking his blade out of her bloated stomach. He hurled her limp body away where it hit the ground in a cloud of snow and blood. The elite lumbered over to her to find her already dead. He snorted and used his sword to splice her down the middle, cutting her body wide open.

After stripping her of her garments and rummaging through her belongings Yates finally grew furious. "Cursed humans! Where are they!" He stuck his fingers into her still warm flesh, rummaging around for what he was looking for. His digits grazed something soft with a hard surface underneath. Yates pried the girl's stomach open a little wider and growled at what he saw; she had been bearing offspring. The elite jumped back and grabbed his scanner. "Damned humans! Breeding among such filth is an atrocity against the gods itself, much less living." He raised his holographic scanner and held it up to the girl's body. The reading that flashed caused the elite to stomp his hoof in frustration.

"The prophets said that each human carries a relic with them at all times!" He glared at the corpse before him. "So where is she hiding it! If I can bring one back for the prophets to examine I can be..." His voice trailed off as he eyed his scanner again. The elite's mandibles fell open as he looked closer at the symbol that flashed on his scanner. Yates could hardly believe what he was seeing. He reset the device several times, but each time he did, the same symbol would flash before him.

"No," he gasped as he stared down at the body staining the snow with blood. "This... this cannot be!" Yates staggered back several steps before holding the scanner up to his face again; his hand was trembling. "Th-the prophets... they said the humans carried relics... but..." He held the scanner out again and took another reading. "The humans are not relic holders."

"They're reclaimers." Luna spoke up, interrupting Yates's story. The elite opened his eyes and looked across the cell at her before nodding. Luna looked at Tony and his teammates who looked mortified at what Yates had done and confused by the revelation Luna had made.

"Precisely." Yates nodded. "The prophets lied to us... all of us... but only a select few of us spoke out against them."

"If that's the case then why didn't you join our cause then?" Tony asked defiantly.

"Because those who did speak out were immediately silenced." Yates snapped, causing the marines to jump. He looked at Luna and jerked his head towards the empty cell beside him where she had first seen an elite warrior be dragged, bare-bodied and burned and left to sit for days before being taken away. "The elite you saw in here, was charged with heresy for allowing one of the sacred rings to be destroyed by the demon these humans refer to as Master Chief." Luna could not remember the elite's face for all she could remember. She had been too busy working on her special project after her skirmish with the guards. "Since that day I decided not to follow the path the prophet liars laid for us."

"And that's why you are in here," Luna sighed sadly.

Yates bobbed his head. "I figure that this is the least I deserve for the annihilation of so many of the ancient's descendants. I just wish the rest of my people could see the truth and not follow so blindly down a path of damnation."

"You know what," James spoke up. "I'm starting to wonder what else your so-called prophets have lied to you about. Now I can see that grunts and jackals are dumber than dogs but not everyone in the Covenant are so monkey-brained. With the exception of the brutes mind you. But surely even they have to see what's going on eventually."

"I'm afraid it's not so easy." Yates shook his head. "The brutes are like a pack of wild beasts who see the prophets as their leaders. If the prophets say for them to do something then the brutes will follow without question."

"Even if that leads them off a cliff?" Tony raised a brow.

"The elites are not as blind but they are still fooled by the prophets promise of becoming greater beings amongst the stars." Yates explained. "If they are given the chance to see what the prophets are doing then they too will turn to the human's cause." The former major hung his head in shame. "Though I do not deserve to fight alongside the humans after what I have done."

"Damn right you don't." James scoffed.

"That's not true!" Luna protested. "Yates, the fact that you're still alive means you have a purpose yet to fulfill."

"And what would you propose that to be?" The sangheili squinted at her inquisitively.

"To help me get out of here." Luna replied anxiously. "To get all of us out of here." She locked eyes with Tony who happened to be staring at her. "If you really are an elite of honor then help me get us out of here and I can help you redeem yourself and save your people before they all get killed."

"Before they get killed?" Yates cocked his head curiously.

"Your prophets want to light the Halo rings, but what they don't seem to grasp is that Halo is a weapon used to kill all life in the galaxy."

Yates and the marines were silent for a long time. "If what you say is true. Then we already have a very short amount of time available to us." Yates growled.

"Then let's move quickly." Luna urged as she tossed her modified gauntlet in her hand.

The marines were hesitant for a moment. Then James spoke up. "What's your plan?"

Luna's mandibles curled into what could have passed as an elite smiling. She moved closer to the barrier and slammed a fist hard against the shield. The sudden sizzle of energy caused the guards to jump. Luna ignored the tingle in her hand and pounded the barrier again and again.

"What are you doing?" One of the guards snarled. "Stop at once!"

"Why don't you come over and make me!" Luna shot back in a rather childish fashion. The two guards glanced at one another and again, Luna struck the barrier. The elite minor raised his plasma rifle and walked cautiously over to the female's cell. He nodded to his fellow guard who then dropped the barrier to Luna's cell. Just as the young elite turned his head around, Luna had already rushed in, grabbing his arm that held the weapon. There was a loud snap as the female snapped the elite's arm back. A few shots from the plasma rifle went off, peppering the ceiling, leaving white-hot burn marks in the purple alloy.

The second guard roared and charged Luna with his plasma rifle raised. The female elite grabbed the first guard and wrenched his weapon from his hand and took cover behind him, holding the guard as a shield. The second guard hesitated and Luna fired. The elite's shields flared before dying. A plasma bolt struck the elite in the face. Luna grabbed her prisoner around the neck and hurled him into the other guards before the body could hit the floor. The two aliens crashed into the control panel on the far side of the room, causing the holograms on the pillar to flicker before giving out.

A moment later, the cell block shields dropped, giving the marines and Yates a clear opening to escape.

"Easy," Luna snickered, her mandibles clicking excitedly. She was beginning to get used to this new body.

"I have never seen an elite do something like that before." James gasped as he helped a couple of his teammates to their feet.

"Neither have I." Yates added, getting to his feet. He staggered slightly, a little weak from malnutrition.

"We'd better hurry and move out." Luna hissed through her mandibles. "More guards will be arriving soon, I'm sure.

No sooner had Luna spoken than the prison block doors slid open. A small squad of elite majors stood with their needler pistols drawn. Their shark-like eyes fell on Luna standing beside the destroyed control console. The marines glanced from the elites to the female elite before them.

Luna hurled the plasma rifle into the leader's face, knocking him to the floor and into his teammates. Luna turned and tossed the armor device to Tony who nearly dropped it. The marine looked at the female who threw herself into the other elites, knocking their heads together and dropping them one by one.

"What do we do? Should we help her?" James asked hesitantly, unsure if they should trust an elite; even if she was a female.

"I... I dunno..." Tony stammered, looking at the device.

The sudden sound of a needler going off snapped Tony out of his trance. The needler round struck one of the marines in the neck, killing him instantly after detonating. Blood spattered across the floor of their cell, leaving the marines dumbstruck.

"Bastards!" James shouted furiously. He rushed forward towards Luna and the guards, swinging his fist as hard as he could. The blow caught one one the guards in the jaw. The elite staggered back before turning on James.

Tony watched as his teammate staggered backward. Blood stained the floor as James clutched at his blown-out stomach. He looked back at Tony, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. James could see his teammates calling his name but their voices became muted by the commotion.

The marines watched as their teammate fell to the floor. An elite managed to knock Luna off, dazing her for a moment, and giving the other elites the chance they needed to subdue her. A sudden force knocked them back as Yates hurled his full body weight in top of them, grabbing two plasma rifles in the process. The former major struck two of the younger guards across the jaws, knocking them unconscious before stepping on the stomach of another. The sentry snarled, and a moment later fell limp after a heavy blow was delivered to his head. A strangled noise came from where Luna sat, as she put the last guard into a strangle hold. The elite's shark-like eyes rolled back into his head before his body went limp. The female shoved the body off of her and looked up to see Yates holding his hand out to her.

"You fight well for a female." He complimented.

"You fight well for a male." She snickered back. She glanced back at Tony who stood over James's body. The marine closed his teammate's eyes and let him rest in peace. "I'm sorry." Luna apologized, placing a large hand on his shoulder.

"We're marines. We've seen this happen, dozens of times over. No amount of sorry will ever make up for what the Covenant have done to our kind."

"We had best leave them behind." Yates spoke up. "If another patrol arrives and sees them out, they will raise the alarm."

Tony was quiet for a moment. He reached inside James's armor and grabbed his dog tags. His teammates gathered the bodies and set them back inside the cells. Yates turned to Luna who was looking at the unconscious elites on the floor. "We should take their armor for ourselves. It will help us remain somewhat hidden throughout the city." Yates only watched as she dragged them into different cells; one in hers, one in his, and the others together. She paused, trying to figure out how to get the armor off, studying it for any possible way to remove the pieces.

Yates walked over and nudged her aside. Luna watched as the veteran removed the elite's outer and under armor before presenting it to her to get into. She snatched them away, in an almost sulky manner.

Off to the side, the marines gathered the plasma rifles as they watched the elites take the guards armor. Neither of the larger split-jawed aliens acted like any elites they had met before.

"Do you think we can fully trust them?" A marine name, Watson whispered.

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Tony grumbled. "Until they prove otherwise, I suggest we go along with them."

"A wise choice." Yates spoke up as he strolled up to the humans, taking the plasma rifle from Tony's smaller hands. The marines felt a bit embarrassed, unaware that the elites could hear so well. Behind him, Luna fiddled with the control panel, before finally figuring out how to arm the energy barriers to the cells.

Yates grabbed another plasma rifle and tossed it to Luna who inspected it for a moment before holstering it. "I'll take those too." Yates ordered, extending his hand towards the marines who held the remaining two plasma rifles.

"What for?" Watson demanded.

"Because you're our prisoners for the time being." Yates explained. "And if we do not wish to arouse suspicion, I suggest you give them up." The marines glanced at one another, and Luna could see the extreme distrust in their eyes.

"Just for the time being. I promise." Her eyes locked with Tony's who seemed to be less on edge than his squad mates. The marine flicked his hand, ordering his men to relinquish the weapons. Luna bobbed her head once before turning to the elite major. "We'll follow your lead."

"Very well then. Let us be off."

**2100 Hours, October 29, 2552 (military calendar)/ Elite Carrier, Crater of New Mombassa, Planet Earth **

"And you, Ship Master, just glassed half a continent!" Lord Hood shouted across the war room. "Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about."

The white-armored elite ship master narrowed his shark-like eyes at the UNSC admiral. He clenched his long fingers into tight fists and took a couple intimidating steps forward. "One single Flood spore can destroy a species." He straightened up to look across the room at an elite in clad, silver armor; much older looking than the other elites armor. "Were it not for the Arbiter's council, I would have glassed your entire planet!" The intensity in his voice, along with the growl, caused the admiral to lean across the table to give a slashing reply.

"Sir!" Commander Miranda Keyes called, grabbing his attention before a single word could leave his mouth. "With all due respect, Cortana has a solution."

"Cortana?" Lord Hood looked at the young Navy officer with a heated stare in his eyes. "Did you see her condition? How damaged she is? She could be corrupted for all we know!" Across the room, standing beside the Arbiter, the Master Chief stared at the projected hologram of the A.I. on the war room table. He leaned down and studied the image of the A.I. from the recorded message. There was something about the way her frozen form stared out at him that made the skin around his neural implant tingle. "Her solution could be a Flood trap!" The Master Chief turned his head at this accusation, but said nothing.

"We should go through the portal." Miranda protested. "Find out, for sure."

"What we should do, Commander, is understand! Clearly! That this is humanity's final stand! Here! At Earth! We go, we risk everything! Every last man, woman and child!" The ship master, Half-Jaw straightened upright at this as Lord Hood turned his attention to him. "If we stand our ground, we might just have a chance."

"No," the Arbiter spoke up causing every head in the room to turn. "If your construct is wrong, then the Flood has already won." He turned to look at the Master Chief, suddenly putting him on the spot in front of the officers present.

John paused a moment before glancing down to his A.I. partner's hologram then to Lord Hood. "I'll find Cortana's solution. And I'll bring it back."

Lord Hood sighed, seeing that his choice was being outvoted by the members of the war council. He suddenly felt like his age was truly showing. "Earth, is all we have left." He glanced from Cortana to the lone spartan. "You trust Cortana that much?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" John nodded almost instantly.

Lord Hood stared hard at the Master Chief's visor, trying to read his intentions. "Either this is the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell if it is Chief, I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which."

With that he turned and left the war room. Out in the hallway, Spartan-049 straightened up at attention. The admiral bobbed his head in acknowledgement and continued down the hall. Kimberly looked back into the war room at John and Miranda. The commander noticed her and motioned for the spartan to enter. The elites around the room watched with a weary eye as she approached the conference table.

"Sir!" Kim saluted to Miranda and the Master Chief.

"At ease." John nodded.

"Sir. Permission to speak." Kimberly's tone seemed rather anxious.

"Granted."

"What's the plan sir?"

John looked to Miranda then back to his fellow spartan. "We're going through the portal. Cortana says there's a solution on the other side. A way for us to stop the flood without firing the halos."

"So when do we move out?" Kim asked, crossing her arms and trying to appear to be patient.

"We move out immediately." Miranda replied. "Chief. I want you and Johnson to begin gathering supplies and loading them on board The Dawn. We don't have much time to waste."

"Yes ma'am." John nodded. He walked by Kim and gave her a pat on the shoulder. The gesture was not one given often by the Master Chief and the fact that he had done so worried her.

"Kimberly, is it?" Miranda asked as she turned towards the conference table.

"Ma'am." Kimberly nodded.

"Here's what is going on." She gestured for the Arbiter to come over and help explain their plan. The elite warrior walked over and let his long fingers glide across the holographic, blue markings on the table projector. A hologram of a galaxy appeared and zoomed in towards the system's fifth planet. It resembled Earth in a way but was easily five times larger with lush, green forests, vast deserts and rich polar ice caps.

"This is our home planet," the Arbiter explained. "Many of our forces have been stationed there as political figures before being inducted into the Covenant's political ranks. As of right now, our fleet is outnumbered. If we were to go after the prophet Truth, then we will be running a great risk if the Covenant are lying in wait for us on the other side."

"You make it sound like you were never part of their collective." Kimberly pointed out, taking off her helmet. She still looked like she was in her early twenties, despite being just over forty years of age. Her strawberry-blonde hair fell loose around her face, framing her soft, rosy cheeks. The elites all glanced at one another. To them she looked like just another human, but the armor reminded them what she was truly capable of."

"I understand how you feel." Miranda said, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're not happy about the situation either, but right now we have a job to do. We can save the politics for later."

Kimberly looked around the war room at the elites, fixing each one with her blue-green eyes. She turned back to the Arbiter and Half-jaw who seemed rather anxious to get their plan moving.

"Alright then. So what's the plan?" She asked darkly.

The Arbiter nodded his gratitude for her cooperation. "We will be able to hold off the Covenant fleet for a short while. But we will require more ships if we are to eradicate the brutes completely."

"So how do we reach your home world?" Kimberly crossed her arms after placing her helmet onto the table. "And more importantly, do the elites on your home world know about our new alliance?"

"Most likely not." Half-jaw growled. "You will have to make contact with the high councilor yourself to make any sort of treaties official."

"The Arbiter has prepared a message for which you will have to deliver to the high councilor." Miranda continued. "Knowing the elites, they may not be entirely open to the idea with working with spartans." Kimberly's expression did not change one bit.

"How many ships are we taking?" Kimberly asked, looking at the planetary hologram.

"We can spare one of our cruisers to escort you." Half-jaw spoke up again. "Your Commander has informed me that you, Gold Spartans, have your own class of ship. You will be taking that along as well." The ship master walked around the center table towards Kim; his armored hoofs clocking against the floor. The special forces commander extended a hand, much to everyone's surprise. "I wish to speak on behalf of my people for being so blind to the prophet's lies. If you are willing, I wish to take steps for a brighter future. For us all."

Kimberly looked down at the extended hand then up at the elite. His left mandibles had been severed; from what, she did not know. After a tense moment she took his hand in a tight squeeze. "I only pray that we're not too late for all of us."

"Don't we all." Half-jaw muttered. "If you are willing, I would like for you to take some of our forces and familiarize them with your primitive technology. Perhaps they can learn something from you."

"Perhaps." Kimberly repeated.

"So we are in agreement then." Miranda nodded with a determined smile. "Gold Team will head to the elite home world and bring back reinforcements to help us stop Truth and the Covenant. Before it's too late."

"I only hope the plan is as easy as you say." Kimberly commented, looking the ship master in the eye.

"I would not imagine that it would be." Half-jaw replied. "But may the gods guide your way Spartan."

Kimberly paused. It was the first time any alien had referred to her as something other than a demon. After a moment she nodded and saluted.

"I will get my gear packed immediately."

"Very well," the Arbiter nodded. "We will have fresh troops and supplies waiting for you in the hanger when you are ready."

Kimberly nodded, grabbed her helmet and left the war room. She hurried down the hall towards the main hanger. Waiting for her was a pelican, ready to take her back to their frigate, Foremost Winter. Upon docking aboard the ship, the spartan hustled to the sickbay. As she hurried down the corridors, she noticed the groups of marines and elites passing by. The aliens eyed her skeptically but the marines and navy personnel kept their weary eyes on the towering aliens. The spartan shook her personal thoughts out of her head. Right now she had a job to do and she was going to need to do it without her team; for the first time in her life.

Spartan-049 entered the sickbay, causing the nurses and engineers to look up at her. The floating, gas-filled aliens cooed sadly as she walked around to her various team members. Dan was in the ER still. His arm could not be flash-cloned, and even if it had been, it would take weeks of therapy for him to get used to using it. Luke and Leslie lay on two mattress's, still unconscious. Leslie was being inspected for her plasma burns from the fuel rod gun, and Luke was being treated for hemorrhaging and severe internal injuries. He was in far better shape than the others though. The marines and elites had scouted out Eureka's convoy and had managed to locate a badly plasma scarred Judy. Like Dan, she too was in critical condition. There had been no sign of Marshal. Kimberly's heart sank as she marked her fellow spartan as MIA on their team roster. She had never been the one to do this personally, but now she knew how John and the others must have felt. It was like losing a close brother.

A low groan grabbed her attention, as well as the surgeons. Kimberly watched as Spartan-029 slowly came to. Shakily she walked over to his bedside and extended a hand to let it rest on top of his. The contact made him squeeze her hand back and open his eyes. The female spartan smiled as she looked down into her team leader's brown and blue eyes.

"Welcome back sir." She whispered softly as a pair of engineers floated over to begin inspections on him.

"What happened?" Jesse groaned as the aliens went about their diagnostics.

"Long story." Kimberly sighed, shaking her head. "I don't have time to explain it all. But Roy and I are the only two able-bodied spartans left right now. And we're preparing to mobilize in just a short while."

"What?" Jesse wheezed hard. The pain in his chest was immense. The brute chieftains hammer had shattered the cartilage binding his ribs together, making it difficult for the spartan to breath. "Where are we going?" He turned his head to look at the rest of his team lying silently on their beds, the steady beeps of their monitoring equipment telling him their current condition.

"To the elite home world." Kimberly replied, hesitant about answering his question.

Jesse's head snapped around, startling the engineers. "We're doing what?"

Kimberly sighed. "I don't have a lot of time to explain. But long story short, is that the UNSC has joined up with the elites to stop the Covenant."

Jesse's brow furrowed. "The elites are Covenant."

Kimberly shook her head. "Not any more sir. I will brief you on the situation once we've started heading out."

"I'd rather be briefed on the situation now." Jesse grunted loudly as he sat up.

"Sir! You need to rest." Kimberly ordered, taking her CO by the shoulders and trying to lay him back down on the bed. "You're injuries have to heal!"

"I'll be fine." Jesse waved, pushing her arms away. Kimberly let his arms brush by hers. She could easily overpower him without his armor, but she also could not bring herself to disobey a commanding officer. And on top of that, it was him; the spartan that had been by her side since basic training, from the very beginning. The one who looked after her and she had with him ever since they were children. Her soul mate. She could not bear to defy what he believed in, so she stood by and let him have his way.

"I'm sorry sir," Kimberly muttered. "But your armor... has been thrashed. It's barely even salvageable as scrap."

Jesse stared at her for a moment before thinking to himself. "Then I suppose now would be the best time for me to test out the new prototype."

Kimberly's eyes widened behind her face plate. Jesse could not see her face but the way she twitched her shoulders told him she was not comfortable with the idea. "Sir, that model just came off the assembly line right before we left for Reach. This is hardly the time to field test anything like that."

"Isn't it?" Jesse tilted his head sideways at her. "It's no different than when we tested out the Mark Six. It's been a while, yes, but our purpose has not changed. We field test every bit of equipment for our fellow spartans and UNSC."

Kimberly bobbed her head slightly. She knew he was right and could not think up a suitable argument. "Very well sir. But I also have my orders and I cannot wait until you're suited up."

"I understand." Jesse swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood before her, bare naked. Kimberly felt her temperature rise inside her suit but kept her composure. A smirk tugged at Jesse's cheek as he turned to the two engineers who had been examining him.

"Ready the Mark Seven for active field testing." He ordered.


End file.
